JOHN S. FINDLATER (SKENE) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC219233 · ltd · incorporated 2001-05-16

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

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Nov 2024

Net worth

£116.7k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 25990

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

33110SIC 33110

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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

Company profile

address, 2 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

10 officers (3 active, 10 linked, 5 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

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £116,697

Net assets shrinking

Down £20,272 YoY

Cash YoY

-27%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£58k

↓ 27% YoY

Net Worth

£117k

↓ 15% YoY

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-11-30	2023-11-30
Cash	£57.5k	£78.3k
Net assets	£116.7k	£137.0k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (34 events)Click to expand

2025-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-06-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-07-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2017-07-04
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2017-07-04
📄
withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
2016-06-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-08-13
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2015-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-07-13
➖
FINDLATER, John Sangster resigned
director
2015-05-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-07-13
➕
LC SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2012-07-13
➖
ESSLEMONT CAMERON GAULD resigned
corporate-secretary
2009-08-26
➖
BOWMAN, Jane resigned
director
2009-08-26
➖
FINDLATER, Derek Stephen resigned
director
2003-04-28
➕
ESSLEMONT CAMERON GAULD appointed
corporate-secretary
2003-04-28
➖
PHILIP GAULD & CO resigned
corporate-secretary
2001-05-18
➕
BOWMAN, Jane appointed
director
2001-05-16
🏢
Company incorporated
As JOHN S. FINDLATER (SKENE) LIMITED
2001-05-16
➕
COLLIE, Susan appointed
director
2001-05-16
➕
FINDLATER, Calum appointed
director
2001-05-16
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-05-16
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-05-16
➕
PHILIP GAULD & CO appointed
corporate-secretary
2001-05-16
➕
FINDLATER, Derek Stephen appointed
director
2001-05-16
➕
FINDLATER, John Sangster appointed
director
2001-05-16
➕
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2001-05-16
➖
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

98/100

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 "FINDLATER" — 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.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100

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.
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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Calum Findlater Individual · British · DOB 04/1969 · age 57	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	29/06/2017

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

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KENZFIGEE LIMITED→ SC635534 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
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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

Incorporated2001-05-16

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC25990 — SIC 25990

Registered office

Johnstone House

52-54 Rose Street

Aberdeen

AB10 1HA

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-08-31

Last made up to: 2024-11-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-30

Last: 2025-05-16

Officers (3 active · 7 resigned)

LC SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2012-07-13

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

COLLIE, Susan→

director · ~65y · appointed 2001-05-16

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FINDLATER, Calum→

director · ~57y · appointed 2001-05-16

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ESSLEMONT CAMERON GAULD→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2003-04-28 · resigned 2012-07-13

Resigned

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-05-16 · resigned 2001-05-16

Resigned

PHILIP GAULD & CO→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2001-05-16 · resigned 2003-04-28

Resigned

BOWMAN, Jane→

director · ~55y · appointed 2001-05-18 · resigned 2009-08-26

Resigned

FINDLATER, Derek Stephen→

director · ~60y · appointed 2001-05-16 · resigned 2009-08-26

Resigned

FINDLATER, John Sangster→

director · ~90y · appointed 2001-05-16 · resigned 2015-07-13

Resigned

JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-05-16 · resigned 2001-05-16

Resigned

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