THISTLE ENGINEERING LTD.

🌳Matureactive

SC356256 · ltd · incorporated 2009-03-09

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

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

£59.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

81/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Machining

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -57% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

46 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

81/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £59,404

Net assets shrinking

Down £178,818 YoY

Cash draining

Cash down 57% YoY

Cash YoY

-57%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£191k

↓ 57% YoY

Net Worth

£59k

↓ 75% YoY

Current Assets

£191k

↓ 60% 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	£59.4k	£238.2k
Current assets	£191.0k	£474.8k
Cash	£190.8k	£442.9k
Debtors	£223	£31.9k
Net assets	£59.4k	£238.2k

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 (24 events)Click to expand

2025-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-11-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-09-08
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2018-03-27
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2018-03-27
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2017-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-12-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-06
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-01-28
📄
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AAMD
2015-06-01
➖
MACKENZIE, Alexander resigned
director
2013-05-01
➕
MOYNIHAN, Anthony Hugh appointed
director
2009-03-15
➕
GIBSON, Douglas Haggart appointed
director
2009-03-09
🏢
Company incorporated
As THISTLE ENGINEERING LTD.
2009-03-09
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-secretary
2009-03-09
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-secretary
2009-03-09
➕
MABBOTT, Stephen George appointed
director
2009-03-09
➖
MABBOTT, Stephen George resigned
director
2009-03-09
➕
MACKENZIE, Alexander appointed
director

Owner dependency

76/100

High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

69/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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

3 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Douglas Haggart Gibson Individual · British · DOB 12/1964 · age 62	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/04/2016
Mr Anthony Hugh Moynihan Individual · British · DOB 08/1965 · age 61	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/04/2016
Douglas Haggart Gibson Individual · British · DOB 12/1964 · age 62	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/04/2016

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 · Manufacturing · IV postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
GAEL FORCE GROUP LIMITED→ SC229244 · est 2002	£23.82M £18.53M–£29.11M	—	—	1700	24y	83	62y
GAEL FORCE ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC394817 · est 2011	£1.26M £977.0k–£1.54M	—	—	4700	15y	82	62y
HENDRY HYDRAULICS LIMITED→ SC059511 · est 1976	£331.6k £257.9k–£405.3k	—	—	91	50y	87	75y
ANTA SCOTLAND LIMITED→ SC156285 · est 1995	—	—	—	30	31y	83	69y
JAMES JOHNSTON & CO. OF ELGIN LIMITED→ SC022553 · est 1943 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	82y	83	70y
MUIRTON CONTROL & AUTOMATION LTD→ SC395862 · est 2011	—	—	£418.0k	—	15y	83	58y
MUNRO SAWMILLS LTD.→ SC228923 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	24y	83	76y
STRATH PRINT LTD.→ SC205018 · est 2000	—	—	£12.4k	—	26y	83	74y
HIGHLAND BODYSHOP LTD→ SC273214 · est 2004	—	—	£148.5k	—	21y	82	73y
INVERFAB LTD.→ SC223907 · est 2001	—	—	£537.1k	—	24y	82	80y
MACKAY STEELWORK & CLADDING LIMITED→ SC161195 · est 1995	—	—	£3.98M	—	30y	82	58y
TOMATIN FIREWOOD LTD→ SC723729 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—

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

Incorporated2009-03-09

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC25620 — Machining

Registered office

10 Knockbreck Street

Tain

Ross-Shire

IV19 1BJ

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 (2 active · 3 resigned)

GIBSON, Douglas Haggart→

director · ~62y · appointed 2009-03-15

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MOYNIHAN, Anthony Hugh→

director · ~61y · appointed 2013-05-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2009-03-09 · resigned 2009-03-09

Resigned

MABBOTT, Stephen George→

director · ~76y · appointed 2009-03-09 · resigned 2009-03-09

Resigned

MACKENZIE, Alexander→

director · ~60y · appointed 2009-03-09 · resigned 2015-06-01

Resigned

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