A.J.B. SCHOLES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC341021 · ltd · incorporated 2008-04-08

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 18.0y 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 material changes in the last 90 days.

Last 180 days

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

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jul 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Accounting and auditing activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 83/100 (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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 18.0y

70/100

ready

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

· Oldest live charge is 18.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
· Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

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

7 officers (6 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

58 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

83/100Exceptional

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 · FRS 102

Metric	2025-07-31	2024-07-31
Average employees	40	3800

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

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts
• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand

2026-04-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-02
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-02-27
➕
PATRICK, Scott appointed
director
2025-11-28
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-11-28
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-11-01
➕
TIPPER, Kayleigh Louise appointed
director
2025-10-09
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2025-10-09
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-04-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-02
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-08-01
➕
ALLAN, Ryan appointed
director
2021-04-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-06
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2020-10-06
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2020-04-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-20
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2020-01-15
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2018-10-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2008-08-04
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2008-07-14
➕
SCHOLES, Karen appointed
secretary
2008-07-14
➕
HOUSTON, Ivan Roman Charles appointed
director
2008-07-14
➖
BROWN, Kenneth William resigned
secretary
2008-04-08
🏢
Company incorporated
As A.J.B. SCHOLES LIMITED
2008-04-08
➕
SCHOLES, Karen appointed
director
2008-04-08
➕
BROWN, Kenneth William appointed
secretary

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

-5 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "SCHOLES" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

63/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 18 years.
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 Ivan Roman Charles Houston Individual · British · DOB 05/1974 · age 52	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mrs Karen Scholesceased 01/11/2025· 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.

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2008-04-08

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC69201 — Accounting and auditing activities

Registered office

8 Albert Street

Kirkwall

KW15 1HP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-04-30

Last made up to: 2025-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-22

Last: 2026-04-08