JOHN MACLAREN AND SONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC291419 · ltd · incorporated 2005-10-07
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 10.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£6.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
83/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other food services
Sector: Accommodation & food service
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 82990Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 10.9y

85/100
ready

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 10.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: high (83/100)

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

Company profile
address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (4 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
21 connected companies via shared directors
90
Filing history
59 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
83/100Exceptional
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
85
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £6,564
Net assets shrinking
Down £18,940 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£7k
↓ 74% YoY
Current Assets
£27k
↓ 66% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£16k£32k£47k£63k£79kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£6.6k£25.5k
Current assets£26.5k£79.0k
Net assets£6.6k£25.5k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-07
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  3. 2024-09-30
    ➕
    BARCLAY, David Ellis appointed
    director
  4. 2024-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-08-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-07-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-02-22
    ➕
    PURDIE, Caroline Amy appointed
    director
  11. 2019-02-22
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  12. 2018-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-02-02
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  14. 2018-02-02
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2018-02-02
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  16. 2017-06-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-08-31
    ➖
    BARCLAY, Colin Shields resigned
    secretary
  19. 2015-07-14
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  20. 2006-10-07
    ➕
    BALL, Stephen James appointed
    director
  21. 2006-10-07
    ➖
    D.W. COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2006-10-07
    ➖
    D.W. DIRECTOR 1 LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2005-10-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JOHN MACLAREN AND SONS LIMITED
  24. 2005-10-07
    ➕
    BARCLAY, Colin Shields appointed
    director
  25. 2005-10-07
    ➕
    BARCLAY, Colin Shields appointed
    secretary
  26. 2005-10-07
    ➕
    D.W. COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2005-10-07
    ➕
    D.W. DIRECTOR 1 LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

73/100
High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS
  • -4 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 72 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 72 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stephen James Ball
Individual · British · DOB 03/1954 · age 72
——sig. influencesignificant influence07/10/2016
Mr Colin Shields Barclay
Individual · Canadian · DOB 03/1958 · age 68
——sig. influencesignificant influence07/10/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • John Maclaren Limitedceased 07/10/2016· 75-100% shares

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

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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2005-10-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC56290 — Other food services

Registered office

3 Peel Park Place
East Kilbride
Glasgow
G74 5LW

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-19
Last: 2025-10-05

Officers (4 active · 3 resigned)

BALL, Stephen James→
director · ~72y · appointed 2006-10-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BARCLAY, Colin Shields→
director · ~68y · appointed 2005-10-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BARCLAY, David Ellis→
director · ~35y · appointed 2024-09-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PURDIE, Caroline Amy→
director · ~43y · appointed 2019-02-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BARCLAY, Colin Shields→
secretary · appointed 2005-10-07 · resigned 2016-08-31
Resigned
D.W. COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-10-07 · resigned 2006-10-07
Resigned
D.W. DIRECTOR 1 LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-10-07 · resigned 2006-10-07
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
A registered charge—14/07/2015—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (59 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-09
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-10-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-21