MACLEAY MOTOR ENGINEERING LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC214626 · ltd · incorporated 2001-01-10
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 24.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
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Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£1.75M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 24.9y

65/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 24.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
70 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 £1,753,788
Cash YoY
+9%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£1.5m
↑ 9.3% YoY
Net Worth
£1.8m
↑ 13% YoY
Current Assets
£1.8m
↑ 12% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£362k£724k£1.1m£1.4m£1.8mApr 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
Total assets£1.83M£1.61M
Current assets£1.81M£1.62M
Cash£1.47M£1.34M
Debtors£302.6k£246.7k
Net assets£1.75M£1.55M

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-01-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-06-18
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2020-06-10
    ➖
    MCMILLAN, Stuart resigned
    director
  9. 2019-11-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-02-15
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2016-02-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2016-02-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2016-02-12
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  17. 2004-03-22
    ➕
    MCMILLAN, Stuart appointed
    director
  18. 2001-06-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  19. 2001-01-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As MACLEAY MOTOR ENGINEERING LIMITED
  20. 2001-01-10
    ➕
    MACLEAY, Campbell appointed
    secretary
  21. 2001-01-10
    ➕
    MACLEAY, Campbell appointed
    director
  22. 2001-01-10
    ➕
    MACLEAY, Pamela Mcclymont appointed
    director
  23. 2001-01-10
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2001-01-10
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2001-01-10
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 2001-01-10
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

99/100
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 "MACLEAY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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 Campbell Macleay
Individual · British · DOB 07/1966 · age 60
25–50%
—25-50% shares01/05/2016
Mrs Pamela Mcclymont Macleay
Individual · British · DOB 07/1969 · age 57
25–50%
—25-50% shares01/05/2016

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

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

6 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
Incorporated2001-01-10
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

West Hillhead
Farm Road
Kilmarnock
Ayrshire
KA3 1PH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-24
Last: 2026-01-10

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

MACLEAY, Campbell→
secretary · appointed 2001-01-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACLEAY, Campbell→
director · ~60y · appointed 2001-01-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACLEAY, Pamela Mcclymont→
director · ~57y · appointed 2001-01-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-01-10 · resigned 2001-01-10
Resigned
MCMILLAN, Stuart→
director · ~55y · appointed 2004-03-22 · resigned 2020-06-10
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-01-10 · resigned 2001-01-10
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property19/06/2001—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (70 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-14
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-06-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-21