HL JONES & SONS LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC254132 · ltd · incorporated 2003-08-12
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 22.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jan 2025
Net worth
£31.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other amusement and recreation activities n.e.c.
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). 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 22.0y
65/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 22.0 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 (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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
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
64 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 declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £31,130
Net assets shrinking
Down £8,980 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£31k
↓ 22% YoY
Current Assets
£36k
↓ 58% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-01-31 | 2024-01-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £31.1k | £40.1k |
| Current assets | £36.4k | £86.2k |
| Net assets | £31.1k | £40.1k |
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 (25 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-12📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-11-06📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-10-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-07-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-01📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2022-10-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-18📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-08-18📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-10-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-04📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2019-12-04📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2019-06-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2004-06-01🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2003-08-12🏢Company incorporatedAs HL JONES & SONS LIMITED
- 2003-08-12➕JONES, Lynn appointedsecretary
- 2003-08-12➕JONES, Huw appointeddirector
- 2003-08-12➕JONES, Lynn appointeddirector
- 2003-08-12➕FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2003-08-12➖FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2003-08-12➕FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2003-08-12➖FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 "JONES" — 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 66 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. 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 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
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Huw Jones Individual · British · DOB 03/1960 · age 66 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Lynn Jones Individual · British · DOB 05/1967 · age 59 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Leisure & entertainment · AB postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JOHN CODONA'S PLEASURE FAIRS LIMITED→ SC022655 · est 1944 | £172.2k £133.9k–£210.4k | £7.30M | — | 20400 | 82y | 87 | 80y |
| BANKS O'DEE SPORTS CLUB LIMITED→ SC175110 · est 1997 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 29y | 83 | 79y |
| CLATT AULD KIRK→ SC161856 · est 1995 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 30y | 83 | 71y |
| DEESIDE GLIDING CLUB (ABERDEENSHIRE) LIMITED→ SC034867 · est 1960 | — | — | £755.2k | — | 66y | 83 | 77y |
| GLENSHEE LIMITED→ SC269348 · est 2004 | — | — | £625.3k | — | 21y | 83 | 71y |
| KEITH FOOTBALL CLUB LTD.→ SC271946 · est 2004 | — | — | — | 0 | 21y | 83 | 71y |
| PEACOCK VISUAL ARTS LIMITED→ SC056235 · est 1974 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 51y | 83 | 80y |
| PETERHEAD FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED→ SC146014 · est 1993 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 32y | 83 | 78y |
| THE KEITH & DISTRICT SPORTS TRUST→ SC141101 · est 1992 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 33y | 83 | 81y |
| ARDOYNE PERFORMANCE LIMITED→ SC308365 · est 2006 | — | — | — | 0 | 19y | 82 | 63y |
| GRAMPIAN GOLF & LEISURE ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ SC093558 · est 1985 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 40y | 82 | 77y |
| HOWIE IRVINE LIMITED→ SC224909 · est 2001 | — | — | £513.9k | — | 24y | 82 | 63y |
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
Incorporated2003-08-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC93290 — Other amusement and recreation activities n.e.c.
Registered office
The Old Mart The Main Building
Market Road
Laurencekirk
AB30 1DG
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-19
Last: 2025-08-05
Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)
Active
Active
Active
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-08-12 · resigned 2003-08-12
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-08-12 · resigned 2003-08-12
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
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Bond & floating charge | 1 property | 01/06/2004 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (64 total)
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-11-12
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-24
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-08-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-26
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-08-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-08-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-13