GILLESPIE MACANDREW SECRETARIES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC287766 · ltd · incorporated 2005-07-21

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 Jul 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

81/100

Exceptional

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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 exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

50 officers (22 active, 50 linked, 48 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

10 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

158 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

81/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

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	2024-07-31	2023-07-31

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (100 events)Click to expand

2026-01-09
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-04-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-01-21
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-01-21
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-12-30
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-12-30
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-12-21
➖
LODGE, Lianne Margaret resigned
director
2024-05-23
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-04-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-02-29
➖
BLAIR, John Michael Greene resigned
director
2024-01-29
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-08-14
➖
SMITH, David Christopher resigned
director
2023-08-14
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-07-20
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-07-19
➕
GILFILLAN, Alan Robert John appointed
director
2023-06-05
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-05-31
📄
second-filing-of-director-appointment-with-name
officers · RP04AP01
2023-05-24
➕
MACRAE, Murray Ross appointed
director
2023-03-28
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-03-27
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-03-17
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-03-17
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-03-17
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-03-17
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-01-23
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-01-22
➖
SOUTAR, Murray Duncan resigned
director
2023-01-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-04-19
➕
NEWTON, Lois Elizabeth Anne appointed
director
2022-04-15
➖
REID, Isobell Ann resigned
director
2021-02-26
➖
HUNTER, Stewart Lindsay Wilson resigned
director
2020-09-24
➕
ADAMS, Eilidh Gillian appointed
director
2020-09-24
➕
DUNDAS, Nicola Jane appointed
director
2020-09-24
➕
WILLIAMS, Simon Jonathan Conon appointed
director
2020-09-24
➕
WRIGHT, Gillian Jane appointed
director
2020-03-01
➖
MILNE, David Bisset resigned
director
2020-03-01
➖
PAGET, Elspeth Mary resigned
director
2019-06-26
➕
GIBSON, Christopher Duncan appointed
director
2019-06-26
➕
HAMILTON, Colin Stuart appointed
director
2019-06-26
➕
REID, Isobell Ann appointed
director
2019-03-01
➕
LODGE, Lianne Margaret appointed
director
2019-02-28
➖
ANDERSON, Alistair Robert resigned
director
2018-12-31
➖
TURNBULL, Ian David Nelson resigned
director
2017-02-28
➖
MURRAY, Thomas Kenneth resigned
director
2016-10-03
➕
SOUTAR, Murray Duncan appointed
director
2016-09-01
➕
CAMERON, Fiona Jane appointed
director
2016-09-01
➕
MCDOWELL, Amy Joy appointed
director
2016-08-30
➖
SHAW, Murray William Anderson resigned
director
2016-05-09
➕
LESLIE, Fraser Gordon appointed
director
2016-05-09
➕
PEEBLES, Gregor Kenneth John appointed
director
2016-05-09
➕
PEEBLES, Fraser Gordon appointed
director

Showing most recent 50 of 100 events

Owner dependency

65/100

High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS

-21 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100

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 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
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.)

Group structure

Gillespie Macandrew Llp is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Gillespie Macandrew Llp

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control

ultimate parent

⬇

GILLESPIE MACANDREW SECRETARIES LIMITED

This company · SC287766

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Gillespie Macandrew Llp Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

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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A R NATIONAL GROUP LIMITED→ SC855457 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
A.P. NEWALL & COMPANY LIMITED→ SC009943 · est 1917 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	108y	—	—
A&R NATIONAL LTD→ SC747631 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
AMPERSAND LANDSCAPE CONSTRUCTION SPECIALIST LTD→ SC758753 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
ANDREW WILSON INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC520155 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
ANGRY AZTEC LTD→ SC395392 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
ANNA TAILOR DESIGN LTD→ SC708085 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
ANSARI TECHNOLOGY LTD→ SC694747 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
ANTHEMIS FOUNDER LIMITED→ SC511567 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
APIS GP III LIMITED→ SC616225 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
APIS GP IV LIMITED→ SC616217 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
APP SCOTLAND LTD→ SC626284 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—

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

Incorporated2005-07-21

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

5 Atholl Crescent

Edinburgh

Midlothian

EH3 8EJ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-04-30

Last made up to: 2024-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-04

Last: 2025-07-21