J & A SINCLAIR LTD.

🌳Matureactive

SC287687 · ltd · incorporated 2005-07-20

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 12.2y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

77/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 01500

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (63/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 12.2y

85/100

ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

· Oldest live charge is 12.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

56 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

77/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-04-05	2024-04-05
Average employees	4	500

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand

2026-01-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-11-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-05
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-09-10
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-03-28
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number
mortgage · MR01
2014-03-20
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2014-01-07
➕
SINCLAIR, Elaine Margaret appointed
director
2014-01-07
➖
SINCLAIR, John Cecil Aitken resigned
director
2005-07-20
🏢
Company incorporated
As J & A SINCLAIR LTD.
2005-07-20
➕
SINCLAIR, Elaine Margaret appointed
secretary
2005-07-20
➕
SINCLAIR, Aaron Malcolm appointed
director
2005-07-20
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2005-07-20
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2005-07-20
➕
SINCLAIR, John Cecil Aitken appointed
director
2005-07-20
➕
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2005-07-20
➖
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100

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 "SINCLAIR" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Aaron Malcolm Sinclair Individual · British · DOB 03/1972 · age 54	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	20/07/2016
Mrs Elaine Margaret Sinclair Individual · British · DOB 08/1973 · age 53	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	20/07/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · ZE postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
RESEARCH FISHING CO. LIMITED→ SC103453 · est 1987	£15.65M £12.04M–£19.26M	—	—	0	39y	81	87y
CHARISMA HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC207704 · est 2000	£14.85M £11.42M–£18.28M	—	—	0	25y	83	75y
GRONIDAAL ORGANIC SMOLTS LTD.→ SC307638 · est 2006	—	—	£396.2k	—	19y	83	82y
UNST SHELLFISH LTD.→ SC326121 · est 2007	—	—	£180.6k	—	18y	83	61y
C & A THOMASON LTD.→ SC197920 · est 1999	—	—	£217.5k	—	26y	82	88y
GUIDING LIGHT FISHING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC339799 · est 2008	—	—	—	2	18y	82	58y
SHETLAND MARINE LIMITED→ SC398706 · est 2011	—	—	—	3	15y	82	70y
SHETLAND SEAFOOD AUCTIONS LIMITED→ SC190378 · est 1998	—	—	£408.2k	—	27y	82	62y
TINGWALL LIVESTOCK LIMITED→ SC285843 · est 2005	—	—	£247.4k	—	20y	82	75y
ANDERSON BROS (VOE) LTD.→ SC246814 · est 2003	—	—	£220.2k	—	23y	80	64y
BLUESHELL MUSSELS LIMITED→ SC254395 · est 2003	—	—	£16.08M	—	22y	80	58y
COLLAFIRTH SEAFARMS LIMITED→ SC335991 · est 2008	—	—	—	—	18y	80	70y

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

Incorporated2005-07-20

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500

Registered office

Sandlodge Farmhouse Leebitton

Sandwick

Shetland

ZE2 9HP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-05

Last made up to: 2025-04-05

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-03

Last: 2025-07-20

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

SINCLAIR, Elaine Margaret→

secretary · appointed 2005-07-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SINCLAIR, Aaron Malcolm→

director · ~54y · appointed 2005-07-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SINCLAIR, Elaine Margaret→

director · ~53y · appointed 2014-01-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-07-20 · resigned 2005-07-20

Resigned

SINCLAIR, John Cecil Aitken→

director · ~80y · appointed 2005-07-20 · resigned 2014-01-07

Resigned

STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-07-20 · resigned 2005-07-20

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	1 property	20/03/2014	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.