G. HARKNESS LAIT & CO. LTD.

🌳Matureactive
SC243353 · ltd · incorporated 2003-02-04
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.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£-38.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Landscape service activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
62 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £38,730

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£39k
↓ 105% YoY
Current Assets
£22k
↑ 40% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£39k-£27k-£15k-£2k£10k£22kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£-38.7k£-18.9k
Current assets£21.7k£15.5k
Net assets£-38.7k£-18.9k

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
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-21
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  4. 2024-02-21
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2023-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-04-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2021-12-20
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2021-12-15
    ➕
    LAIT, Oliver Harkness appointed
    director
  10. 2021-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-10-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-03-20
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2008-09-03
    ➖
    LAIT, Charlotte Claire Harkness resigned
    secretary
  18. 2003-02-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As G. HARKNESS LAIT & CO. LTD.
  19. 2003-02-04
    ➕
    LAIT, Graham appointed
    director
  20. 2003-02-04
    ➕
    LAIT, Charlotte Claire Harkness appointed
    secretary
  21. 2003-02-04
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2003-02-04
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2003-02-04
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2003-02-04
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-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 "LAIT" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

56/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — LAIT, Oliver Harkness (same surname) appointed 2021-12-15. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Oliver Harkness Lait
Individual · British · DOB 01/1994 · age 32
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/02/2024
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Graham Charles Harkness Laitceased 01/02/2024· 75-100% shares

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

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
Incorporated2003-02-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC81300 — Landscape service activities

Registered office

14 Parkhill Drive
Lochwinnoch
PA12 4EN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-17
Last: 2026-02-03

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

LAIT, Graham→
director · ~72y · appointed 2003-02-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LAIT, Oliver Harkness→
director · ~32y · appointed 2021-12-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LAIT, Charlotte Claire Harkness→
secretary · appointed 2003-02-04 · resigned 2008-09-03
Resigned
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-02-04 · resigned 2003-02-04
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-02-04 · resigned 2003-02-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (62 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-21
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-02-21
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-02-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-10
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-15