DF TAVERNS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC196266 · ltd · incorporated 1999-05-18

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Opportunity decay

approaching window · 12-months

Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.

· Oldest live charge 26.9y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to May 2025

Net worth

£391.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Public houses and bars

Sector: Accommodation & food service

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (73/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

5 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 26.9y

70/100

ready

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

· Oldest live charge is 26.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
· Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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

Lenders & charges

5 charges (5/5 with lender, 5/5 with type)

Directors & officers

9 officers (4 active, 9 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

84 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

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 £391,387

Cash YoY

-13%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£20k

↓ 13% YoY

Net Worth

£391k

↑ 6.7% YoY

Current Assets

£35k

↓ 8.7% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Total assets	£391.4k	£383.3k
Current assets	£35.5k	£38.8k
Cash	£19.9k	£22.8k
Debtors	£1.6k	£1.6k
Net assets	£391.4k	£366.8k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

1 signal 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

filings

• 3 officers

Last 90 days

filings

• 3 officers

Last 180 days

filings

• 3 officers
• 1 mortgage
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (41 events)Click to expand

2026-04-20
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-20
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-20
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-01-26
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2026-01-26
🔓
Charge satisfied #4
2025-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-03-28
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2019-03-28
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2019-03-28
🔓
Charge satisfied #3
2019-03-28
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2019-01-08
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2018-12-22
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2018-12-22
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
2018-12-21
🔒
Charge registered #5
Lender: Tsb Bank PLC
2018-12-14
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2018-12-07
🔒
Charge registered #4
Lender: Tsb Bank PLC
2018-11-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2006-04-06
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: Airdrie Savings Bank
2004-11-18
➕
DAVIDSON, George appointed
secretary
2004-11-18
➕
SANDFORD, George appointed
director
2004-11-18
➕
SANDFORD, Lynn appointed
director
2004-11-18
➖
FULTON, Ann Simpson resigned
secretary
2004-11-18
➖
FULTON, James Grierson resigned
director
1999-06-23
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Airdrie Savings Bank
1999-06-07
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Airdrie Savings Bank
1999-05-21
➕
DAVIDSON, George appointed
director
1999-05-21
➕
FULTON, Ann Simpson appointed
secretary
1999-05-21
➕
FULTON, James Grierson appointed
director
1999-05-18
🏢
Company incorporated
As DF TAVERNS LIMITED
1999-05-18
➕
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-05-18
➖
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-05-18
➕
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
1999-05-18
➖
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-director
1999-05-18
➕
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SERVICES LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
1999-05-18
➖
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SERVICES LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

83/100

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

+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 27 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

90/100

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.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 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

1 med ·

Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern

medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr George Davidson Individual · British · DOB 08/1953 · age 73	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	18/05/2017

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

Similar companies

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Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
EXPLORER PROPERTY LIMITED→ SC470347 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
FANFARE RESTAURANTS LTD→ SC576969 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
FOOD BY FRANCHI LTD→ SC858511 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
FOOD TRADES (INGREDIENTS) LIMITED→ SC583335 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
FOODFIXX (HAMILTON) LTD→ SC835852 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
FOODFIXX SIGHTHILL LTD→ SC876857 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
FOODIES HOUSE LTD→ SC864333 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
FREEDOM CAMPERVANS (SCOTLAND) LTD→ SC606669 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
GB TAVERNS LIMITED→ SC883687 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
GEMINI 1314 LTD→ SC744730 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
GLADIUM UK LTD→ SC641346 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
GLENLEE BURNBANK LIMITED→ SC660737 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—

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

Incorporated1999-05-18

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC56302 — Public houses and bars

Registered office

49/53 Windmillhill Street

Motherwell

Lanarkshire

ML1 1RY

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-23

Last: 2025-12-09

Officers (4 active · 5 resigned)

DAVIDSON, George→

secretary · appointed 2004-11-18

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DAVIDSON, George→

director · ~73y · appointed 1999-05-21

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SANDFORD, George→

director · ~66y · appointed 2004-11-18

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SANDFORD, Lynn→

director · ~65y · appointed 2004-11-18

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FULTON, Ann Simpson→

secretary · appointed 1999-05-21 · resigned 2004-11-18

Resigned

PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-05-18 · resigned 1999-05-18

Resigned

FULTON, James Grierson→

director · ~62y · appointed 1999-05-21 · resigned 2004-11-18

Resigned

PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-05-18 · resigned 1999-05-18

Resigned

PETER TRAINER COMPANY SERVICES LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-05-18 · resigned 1999-05-18

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:5 of 5 shown

		Type	Properties
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Tsb Bank PLC	A registered charge	2 properties	21/12/2018	—
satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group Tsb Bank PLC	A registered charge	—	07/12/2018	26/01/2026
satisfied	Airdrie Savings Bank	Standard security	1 property	06/04/2006	28/03/2019
satisfied	Airdrie Savings Bank	Standard security	1 property	23/06/1999	28/03/2019
satisfied	Airdrie Savings Bank	Floating charge	1 property	07/06/1999	22/12/2018

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (84 total)

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-04-20

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-04-20

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-04-20

mortgage-satisfy-charge-full

mortgage · MR04

2026-01-26

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-12-19