MERLIN ERD LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC333348 · ltd · incorporated 2007-11-02

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Dec 2024

Net worth

£1.95M

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 09100

Sector: Mining & quarrying

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 71). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 8.7y

35/100

too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

· Oldest live charge is 8.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
· Legal-friction score 30/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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

1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)

Directors & officers

18 officers (8 active, 18 linked, 14 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared

Director network

17 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

107 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

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

Positive net assets

Net assets £1,947,474

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£1.0m

Net Worth

£1.9m

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31
Cash	£1.05M
Net assets	£1.95M

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 (53 events)Click to expand

2025-09-30
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-09-29
➕
STEWART, Callum David Alexander appointed
director
2025-06-04
📄
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2025-05-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-14
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2025-03-12
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-03-10
➕
MATHIESON, Derek appointed
director
2025-02-12
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-12-23
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2024-12-23
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-09-27
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2024-09-16
➕
MILLER, Iain Purdom appointed
secretary
2024-05-06
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2024-03-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-26
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2023-07-26
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
2023-06-19
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-06-15
➕
ARMSTRONG, Neil Robert appointed
director
2023-04-25
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2023-04-24
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2023-04-12
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2023-04-11
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2023-03-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-06
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-02-02
➖
HUTCHISON, Iain James resigned
director
2022-09-26
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-09-07
➕
MCGREGOR, Stewart Mcfarlane appointed
director
2022-09-07
➖
ARMSTRONG, Neil Robert, Mr. resigned
director
2021-04-19
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2021-02-12
➕
ANDERSON, John Crawford appointed
director
2021-02-12
➕
GRANT, Colin Alexander appointed
director
2021-02-12
➖
HUTCHISON, Deborah Mary resigned
secretary
2021-02-12
➖
HUTCHISON, Deborah Mary resigned
director
2020-11-25
➖
CAMPBELL, Neil Mackay resigned
director
2019-12-12
➕
RAMAGE, Ronald John appointed
director
2019-12-12
➕
CAMPBELL, Neil Mackay appointed
director
2019-12-12
➖
GRANT, Colin Alexander resigned
director
2019-12-12
➖
MILLER, Iain Purdom resigned
director
2018-08-08
➕
GRANT, Colin Alexander appointed
director
2018-08-07
➕
ARMSTRONG, Neil Robert, Mr. appointed
director
2017-08-21
➕
HUTCHISON, Deborah Mary appointed
director
2017-08-21
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Iain Hutchison and Deborah Hutchison
2017-08-21
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Griffin Oil Limited
2017-01-26
➕
MILLER, Iain Purdom appointed
director
2008-07-18
➖
BROOKES, Kenneth Henry resigned
director
2008-01-30
➕
BROOKES, Kenneth Henry appointed
director
2007-11-02
🏢
Company incorporated
As MERLIN ERD LIMITED
2007-11-02
➕
HUTCHISON, Deborah Mary appointed
secretary
2007-11-02
➕
WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2007-11-02
➖
WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary

Showing most recent 50 of 53 events

Owner dependency

55/100

Moderate — manageable with handover

Some founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.

FACTORS

-7 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

60/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 71 years old. Natural succession window is now.

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

Colin Alexander Grant, Kirstene Anne Maccorquodale, Craig Allardyce And Michal Szlachta As Trustees Of The Merlin Erd Limited Employee Ownership Trust is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Colin Alexander Grant, Kirstene Anne Maccorquodale, Craig Allardyce And Michal Szlachta As Trustees Of The Merlin Erd Limited Employee Ownership Trust

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

MERLIN ERD LIMITED

This company · SC333348

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
Colin Alexander Grant, Kirstene Anne Maccorquodale, Craig Allardyce And Michal Szlachta As Trustees Of The Merlin Erd Limited Employee Ownership Trust Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · trust interest	21/08/2017

2 historic (ceased) PSCs

Mr Iain James Hutchisonceased 06/06/2019· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
Mrs Deborah Mary Hutchisonceased 21/08/2017· 25-50% 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 →

Similar companies

Active · Manufacturing · PH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
RUSSWOOD LTD.→ SC092505 · est 1985	£3.34M £2.60M–£4.09M	—	—	67	41y	85	66y
EDWARDS ENGINEERING (PERTH) LIMITED→ SC046562 · est 1969	£2.34M £1.82M–£2.86M	—	—	4100	56y	83	58y
FAIR CITY PRECAST LIMITED→ SC078774 · est 1982	—	—	—	—	43y	83	60y
A M FIRE & SECURITY SYSTEMS LTD→ SC247526 · est 2003	—	—	—	1200	23y	82	58y
DRUMMOND FENCING LIMITED→ SC297497 · est 2006	—	—	£269.1k	—	20y	82	60y
INVERNESS PRECAST LTD→ SC392391 · est 2011	—	—	—	—	15y	82	60y
MACPHERSON'S WELDING & ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED→ SC224287 · est 2001	—	—	£154.8k	—	24y	82	66y
MARGARET MORRISON LIMITED→ SC299646 · est 2006	—	—	—	600	20y	82	66y
MEARNS SAWMILLS LIMITED→ SC022017 · est 1942	—	—	—	200	84y	82	84y
ONTOP TRACTORS LIMITED→ SC059965 · est 1976	—	—	£29.8k	—	49y	82	65y
PERTHSHIRE TIMBER COMPANY LIMITED→ SC142941 · est 1993	—	—	—	1900	33y	82	84y
SIGNAL WARRANTIES LIMITED→ SC716710 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—

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

Incorporated2007-11-02

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC09100 — SIC 09100

Registered office

Merlin House

Necessity Brae

Perth

Perthshire

PH2 0PF

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-06

Last: 2025-12-23