ATELIER-M LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC289842 · ltd · incorporated 2005-09-05

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 12.4y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Architectural activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 12.4y

85/100

ready

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

· Oldest live charge is 12.4 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

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 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

57 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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

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 · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Average employees	300	300

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 (27 events)Click to expand

2025-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-10-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-11-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-22
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-10-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-10-01
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2013-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2013-11-27
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2013-11-22
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2007-04-05
➕
MACDONALD, Laura Bryce appointed
director
2005-09-30
➕
MACDONALD, Laura Bryce appointed
secretary
2005-09-30
➕
MACDONALD, Alan Stuart appointed
director
2005-09-30
➖
THORNTONS WS resigned
corporate-secretary
2005-09-30
➖
HUTCHESON, Iain Henderson resigned
director
2005-09-05
🏢
Company incorporated
As ATELIER-M LIMITED
2005-09-05
➕
THORNTONS LAW LLP appointed
corporate-secretary
2005-09-05
➖
THORNTONS LAW LLP resigned
corporate-secretary
2005-09-05
➕
THORNTONS WS appointed
corporate-secretary
2005-09-05
➕
HUTCHESON, Iain Henderson appointed
director

Owner dependency

84/100

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.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
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 Alan Stuart Macdonald Individual · British · DOB 02/1967 · age 59	50–75%	—	50-75% shares	05/09/2016
Mrs Laura Bryce Macdonald Individual · British · DOB 12/1965 · age 61	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	05/09/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · DD postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
FLINTSTONE TECHNOLOGY LIMITED→ SC419975 · est 2012	£8.97M £6.61M–£11.33M	—	—	14	14y	83	66y
MARTIN ALAN HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC308225 · est 2006	£1.97M £1.45M–£2.49M	—	—	53	19y	88	69y
JAMES HUTTON LIMITED→ SC121376 · est 1989 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	36y	83	72y
THE INSIGHTS GROUP LIMITED→ SC166543 · est 1996 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	29y	83	86y
AEMS LIMITED→ SC329130 · est 2007	—	—	—	—	18y	82	69y
BELLSHELF (NINETY EIGHT) LIMITED→ SC396803 · est 2011	—	—	£37.2k	—	15y	82	64y
BELLSHELF (NINETY SEVEN) LIMITED→ SC271323 · est 2004	—	—	£370.1k	—	21y	82	64y
DEEP TEK LIMITED→ SC191642 · est 1998	—	—	—	200	27y	82	68y
DOUGLAS J. MARTIN & CO. (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC297521 · est 2006	—	—	£35.3k	—	20y	82	70y
EVOTEK LIMITED→ SC270149 · est 2004	—	—	—	100	21y	82	59y
HIGHLAND FOOD GROUP LIMITED→ SC277996 · est 2005	—	—	—	98	21y	82	55y
J & A WORKSPACE LIMITED→ SC257663 · est 2003	—	—	£101.5k	—	22y	82	75y

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

Incorporated2005-09-05

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

2 Westbank Road

Longforgan

Perthshire

DD2 5FB

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-19

Last: 2025-09-05

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

MACDONALD, Laura Bryce→

secretary · appointed 2005-09-30

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACDONALD, Alan Stuart→

director · ~59y · appointed 2005-09-30

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACDONALD, Laura Bryce→

director · ~61y · appointed 2007-04-05

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

THORNTONS LAW LLP→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2005-09-05 · resigned 2005-09-05

Resigned

THORNTONS WS→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2005-09-05 · resigned 2005-09-30

Resigned

HUTCHESON, Iain Henderson→

director · ~64y · appointed 2005-09-05 · resigned 2005-09-30

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	1 property	27/11/2013	—
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	1 property	22/11/2013	—

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