J.R. JOHNSTON DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC291429 · ltd · incorporated 2005-10-07

Investment thesis

Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.

Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.

Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

£-127.5k

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: Buying and selling of own real estate

Sector: Real estate

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed property-backed borrower — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 20.7y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 20.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

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

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)

Directors & officers

2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

7 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

48 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £127,471

Very low cash

Cash position: £39

Cash YoY

+0%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£39

~ YoY

Net Worth

-£127k

~ YoY

Current Assets

£648k

~ YoY

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
Total assets	£-127.5k	£-127.5k
Current assets	£648.4k	£648.4k
Cash	£39	£39
Net assets	£-127.5k	£-127.5k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2025-11-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-11-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-01-19
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2017-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-01-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-09-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-03-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2008-08-31
➖
BARRIE SCOTT LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2006-08-04
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
2005-10-11
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
2005-10-07
🏢
Company incorporated
As J.R. JOHNSTON DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED
2005-10-07
➕
JOHNSTON, John Richard appointed
director
2005-10-07
➕
BARRIE SCOTT LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary

Owner dependency

100/100

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

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "JOHNSTON" — 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.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John Richard Johnston Individual · British · DOB 09/1962 · age 64	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	30/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Property · FK postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
JS PROPERTY (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC265091 · est 2004	£838.4k £712.6k–£964.1k	—	£838.4k	—	22y	82	66y
LLAFRANC PROPERTIES LIMITED→ SC213190 · est 2000	£765.8k £650.9k–£880.6k	—	£765.8k	—	25y	82	67y
VILLAFIELD LTD.→ SC339039 · est 2008	£533.9k £453.8k–£614.0k	—	£533.9k	—	18y	82	58y
CHURCH STREET INVESTMENTS (INVERNESS) LIMITED→ SC296811 · est 2006	£472.3k £401.4k–£543.1k	—	£472.3k	—	20y	82	67y
R & H PROPERTIES LTD.→ SC197981 · est 1999	£447.6k £380.5k–£514.8k	—	£447.6k	—	26y	82	66y
DIS INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC228996 · est 2002	£372.7k £316.8k–£428.6k	—	£372.7k	—	24y	82	64y
CHINA PALACE (GLASGOW) LIMITED→ SC309502 · est 2006	£232.6k £197.7k–£267.5k	—	£232.6k	—	19y	81	64y
A. MCCALLUM (PROPERTIES) LIMITED→ SC148001 · est 1993	£168.8k £143.5k–£194.1k	—	£168.8k	—	32y	82	60y
CENTRAL SCOTLAND HOMES LIMITED→ SC351414 · est 2008	£134.5k £114.3k–£154.6k	—	£134.5k	—	17y	82	93y
VIRGIL LTD.→ SC370740 · est 2010	£115.5k £98.2k–£132.9k	—	£115.5k	—	16y	82	58y
ALPHA EQUITIES LIMITED→ SC331034 · est 2007	£105.8k £89.9k–£121.6k	—	£105.8k	—	18y	83	63y
SOLSO LIMITED→ SC334086 · est 2007	£57.5k £48.9k–£66.1k	—	£57.5k	—	18y	83	60y

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

Incorporated2005-10-07

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC68100 — Buying and selling of own real estate

Registered office

6/8 Cow Wynd

Falkirk

FK1 1PL

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-02-02

Last: 2026-01-19

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

JOHNSTON, John Richard→

director · ~64y · appointed 2005-10-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BARRIE SCOTT LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2005-10-07 · resigned 2008-08-31

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	Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company	Standard security	1 property	04/08/2006	—
	outstanding	Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company	Floating charge	1 property	11/10/2005	—

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