J & H RITCHIE LTD.

🌳Matureactive
SC184889 · ltd · incorporated 1998-04-17
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 11.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£1.94M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 11.0y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 11.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
72 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,937,808

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£2.5m
Net Worth
£1.9m
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£494k£988k£1.5m£2.0m£2.5mApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Cash£2.47M—
Net assets£1.94M—
Average employees—0

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals detected in this company's narrative notes — going-concern language, audit opinion, contingent liabilities, related-party transactions.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Recent activity

Last 30 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-17
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-12-07
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  9. 2020-11-30
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  10. 2020-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-04-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-04-14
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  14. 2018-04-10
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  15. 2017-05-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-05-23
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2015-04-30
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  18. 1998-04-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As J & H RITCHIE LTD.
  19. 1998-04-17
    ➕
    RITCHIE, William Kerr appointed
    secretary
  20. 1998-04-17
    ➕
    RITCHIE, James appointed
    director
  21. 1998-04-17
    ➕
    RITCHIE, William Kerr appointed
    director
  22. 1998-04-17
    ➕
    REID, Brian appointed
    nominee-secretary
  23. 1998-04-17
    ➖
    REID, Brian resigned
    nominee-secretary
  24. 1998-04-17
    ➕
    MABBOTT, Stephen appointed
    nominee-director
  25. 1998-04-17
    ➖
    MABBOTT, Stephen resigned
    nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
Critical — business is the founder

The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "RITCHIE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr James Ritchie
Individual · British · DOB 07/1953 · age 73
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr William Kerr Ritchie
Individual · British · DOB 06/1957 · age 69
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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————23y——
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

7 specific questions generated from this company's actual signals — liquidity, leverage, director age, charge count, red flags, age-of-company.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →
🔒Advanced scoring suite

Exit-route ranking, improvement thesis, quiet-distress detector, covenant-pressure proxy, extraction monitor, approaching triggers, ownership drift, local cluster, value trap, debt capacity, archetype classification — 48+ scoring modules.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1998-04-17
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

Titanium 1 Kings Inch Place
Renfrew
PA4 8WF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-01
Last: 2026-04-17

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

RITCHIE, William Kerr→
secretary · appointed 1998-04-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RITCHIE, James→
director · ~73y · appointed 1998-04-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RITCHIE, William Kerr→
director · ~69y · appointed 1998-04-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
REID, Brian→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-04-17 · resigned 1998-04-17
Resigned
MABBOTT, Stephen→
nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1998-04-17 · resigned 1998-04-17
Resigned

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge—30/11/2020—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge—30/04/2015—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (72 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-07
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-04-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-26
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2020-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-11