MESSRS W G JOHNSTON & SON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC250755 · ltd · incorporated 2003-06-09
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£345.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01500
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 75). 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, 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 (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
57 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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £345,499

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£345k
↑ 2.1% YoY
Current Assets
£409k
Current Liabilities
—
£0£82k£164k£245k£327k£409kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£345.5k£338.3k
Current assets£409.0k—
Net assets£345.5k£338.3k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-07-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2022-06-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2022-06-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2022-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-07-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-07-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  11. 2019-08-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-08-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-09-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-10
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-06-09
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2003-06-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As MESSRS W G JOHNSTON & SON LIMITED
  18. 2003-06-09
    ➕
    JOHNSTON, Elizabeth Alice appointed
    secretary
  19. 2003-06-09
    ➕
    JOHNSTON, Elizabeth Alice appointed
    director
  20. 2003-06-09
    ➕
    JOHNSTON, John Henry Aitken appointed
    director
  21. 2003-06-09
    ➕
    FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2003-06-09
    ➖
    FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2003-06-09
    ➕
    FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2003-06-09
    ➖
    FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED 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 "JOHNSTON" — 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 75 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 75 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
John Henry Aitken Johnston
Individual · British · DOB 09/1951 · age 75
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Elizabeth Alice Johnston
Individual · British · DOB 08/1955 · age 71
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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

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———110053y8371y
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————20y——
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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2003-06-09
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500

Registered office

Little Kilmundie
Glamis
Forfar
Angus
DD8 1UJ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-23
Last: 2025-06-09

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

JOHNSTON, Elizabeth Alice→
secretary · appointed 2003-06-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSTON, Elizabeth Alice→
director · ~71y · appointed 2003-06-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSTON, John Henry Aitken→
director · ~75y · appointed 2003-06-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-06-09 · resigned 2003-06-09
Resigned
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-06-09 · resigned 2003-06-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (57 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-19
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-12-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-06-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-07
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2020-07-23