WILLIAM DUFF & SONS LTD.

🌳Matureactive
SC255350 · ltd · incorporated 2003-09-04
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£624.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Freight transport by road
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 73). 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 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
59 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 £624,150

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£624k
↑ 15% YoY
Current Assets
£266k
↓ 6.6% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£125k£250k£374k£499k£624kJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£882.4k£825.9k
Current assets£266.3k£285.0k
Net assets£624.1k£540.5k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-05
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2023-06-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-06-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2021-01-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-05-27
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2019-05-27
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2018-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-10-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2017-07-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2006-05-12
    ➕
    DUFF, Anne Macdonald appointed
    director
  16. 2003-09-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As WILLIAM DUFF & SONS LTD.
  17. 2003-09-04
    ➕
    DUFF, Anne Macdonald appointed
    secretary
  18. 2003-09-04
    ➕
    DUFF, William appointed
    director
  19. 2003-09-04
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 2003-09-04
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2003-09-04
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  22. 2003-09-04
    ➖
    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 "DUFF" — 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 73 — 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 73 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
Anne Macdonald Duff
Individual · British · DOB 10/1954 · age 72
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
William Duff
Individual · British · DOB 11/1953 · age 73
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Anne Macdonald Duffceased 27/05/2019· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • William Duffceased 27/05/2019· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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 →
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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
Incorporated2003-09-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

18 Stafford Street
Tain
Ross-Shire
IV19 1AZ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-10
Last: 2026-03-27

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

DUFF, Anne Macdonald→
secretary · appointed 2003-09-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUFF, Anne Macdonald→
director · ~72y · appointed 2006-05-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUFF, William→
director · ~73y · appointed 2003-09-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-09-04 · resigned 2003-09-04
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-09-04 · resigned 2003-09-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (59 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-27
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-03
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-06-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-07