BEAR HANDLING LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC284511 · ltd · incorporated 2005-05-10
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£1.70M
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -41% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (63/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 11.5y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 11.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
56 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
65
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,695,305
Cash draining
Cash down 41% YoY
Cash YoY
-41%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£44k
↓ 41% YoY
Net Worth
£1.7m
↑ 3.2% YoY
Current Assets
£240k
↓ 33% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£339k£678k£1.0m£1.4m£1.7mApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£1.72M£1.70M
Current assets£239.9k£358.5k
Cash£43.9k£74.9k
Debtors£142.4k£159.2k
Net assets£1.70M£1.64M

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-01
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  3. 2025-05-01
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  4. 2025-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-06-29
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2017-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-06-07
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2016-02-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-06-12
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2015-06-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  18. 2014-11-10
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  19. 2014-10-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  20. 2005-05-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BEAR HANDLING LIMITED
  21. 2005-05-10
    ➕
    MCLAREN, Dionne Phyllis appointed
    secretary
  22. 2005-05-10
    ➕
    MCLAREN, Dionne Phyllis appointed
    director
  23. 2005-05-10
    ➕
    MCLAREN, John James appointed
    director
  24. 2005-05-10
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2005-05-10
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

Owner dependency

76/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

66/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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 John James Mclaren
Individual · British · DOB 10/1970 · age 56
75–100%
—75-100% shares30/06/2016

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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
Incorporated2005-05-10
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Bearhandling Ltd Hillside Road
Portlethen
Aberdeen
AB12 4RD

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-20
Last: 2025-05-06

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

MCLAREN, Dionne Phyllis→
secretary · appointed 2005-05-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCLAREN, Dionne Phyllis→
director · ~55y · appointed 2005-05-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCLAREN, John James→
director · ~56y · appointed 2005-05-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-05-10 · resigned 2005-05-10
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property10/11/2014—
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
A registered charge—22/10/201401/05/2025
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (56 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-06
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2025-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-05-23