MACFARLANE GRAY FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC197774 · ltd · incorporated 1999-07-02

Investment thesis

Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.

Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.

Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jul 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Administration of financial markets

Sector: Financial & insurance

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

8 officers (1 active, 8 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

5 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

77 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-07-31	2024-07-31
Average employees	4	400

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

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand

2026-04-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-01
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-08-25
➖
SKILLING, Alan John resigned
director
2025-08-08
➖
CALLAN, Gregory resigned
director
2025-08-08
➖
WATERS, Ellen resigned
director
2025-08-08
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-08-08
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-04-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-12
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2024-06-12
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-10-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-17
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-04-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-09-18
📄
legacy
miscellaneous · RP04CS01
2018-09-18
📄
legacy
miscellaneous · RP04CS01
2015-03-02
➖
LAFFERTY, Denise Marie Marcelle resigned
secretary
2015-03-02
➖
LAFFERTY, Denise Marie Marcelle resigned
director
2009-08-11
➕
CALLAN, Gregory appointed
director
2009-08-11
➕
WATERS, Ellen appointed
director
2009-08-01
➕
SKILLING, Alan John appointed
director
2008-04-01
➕
LAFFERTY, Denise Marie Marcelle appointed
secretary
2008-03-31
➖
MACFARLANE GRAY CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS resigned
corporate-secretary
1999-07-02
🏢
Company incorporated
As MACFARLANE GRAY FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED
1999-07-02
➕
CATTERSON, Eric James appointed
director
1999-07-02
➕
MACFARLANE GRAY CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS appointed
corporate-secretary
1999-07-02
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-07-02
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-07-02
➕
LAFFERTY, Denise Marie Marcelle appointed
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

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
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 ·

3 director resignations in last 12 months

medium

Multiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.

Evidence: CALLAN, Gregory resigned 2025-08-08; SKILLING, Alan John resigned 2025-08-25; WATERS, Ellen resigned 2025-08-08

Group structure

Larreb Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Larreb Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

MACFARLANE GRAY FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED

This company · SC197774

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Larreb Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	30/05/2024

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Macfarlane Gray Wealth Management Ltdceased 30/05/2024· 75-100% shares

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Financial services · FK postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
RUSSEL + AITKEN NOMINEES LIMITED→ SC052053 · est 1972	—	—	—	5	53y	83	69y
DENIS O. BROWN & ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ SC046416 · est 1969 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	57y	82	67y
FULCRUM INSURED EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LIMITED→ SC335390 · est 2007	—	—	£89.8k	—	18y	82	65y
GEORGE GILL FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD.→ SC299207 · est 2006	—	—	£110.3k	—	20y	82	61y
ASSET & GENERAL FINANCE LTD→ SC308532 · est 2006	—	—	£1.6k	—	19y	81	63y
FRASER TENNANT FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ SC249345 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	81	61y
INEOS CHEMICALS TRUSTEE LIMITED→ SC400119 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	81	64y
INNOVENE TRUSTEE LIMITED→ SC300164 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	81	61y
STRATEGIC INNOVATIVE FINANCE LTD.→ SC265516 · est 2004	—	—	£5.5k	—	22y	81	64y
A.R.D. CONSULTANCY LIMITED→ SC334089 · est 2007	—	—	—	900	18y	80	64y
ASM RECOVERY LIMITED→ SC340517 · est 2008	—	—	—	100	18y	80	65y
FALKIRK MORTGAGE ADVICE CENTRE (SCOTLAND) LTD→ SC358034 · est 2009	—	—	£16.8k	—	17y	80	59y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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

Incorporated1999-07-02

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC66110 — Administration of financial markets

Registered office

12 Melville Terrace

Stirling

FK8 2NE

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-04-30

Last made up to: 2025-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-26

Last: 2026-05-12

Officers (1 active · 7 resigned)

CATTERSON, Eric James→

director · ~65y · appointed 1999-07-02

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

LAFFERTY, Denise Marie Marcelle→

secretary · appointed 2008-04-01 · resigned 2015-03-02

Resigned

MACFARLANE GRAY CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS→

corporate-secretary · appointed 1999-07-02 · resigned 2008-03-31

Resigned

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-07-02 · resigned 1999-07-02

Resigned

CALLAN, Gregory→

director · ~64y · appointed 2009-08-11 · resigned 2025-08-08

Resigned

LAFFERTY, Denise Marie Marcelle→

director · ~72y · appointed 1999-07-02 · resigned 2015-03-02

Resigned

SKILLING, Alan John→

director · ~68y · appointed 2009-08-01 · resigned 2025-08-25

Resigned

WATERS, Ellen→

director · ~61y · appointed 2009-08-11 · resigned 2025-08-08

Resigned

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

Recent filings (77 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-05-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-04-27

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2025-09-01

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2025-08-08

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2025-08-08

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-07-17

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-04-14

notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC02

2024-06-12

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC07

2024-06-12

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-06-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-10-06

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-06-20

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-01-06

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-06-16

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2021-12-24