G.T. DOWNIE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC384069 · ltd · incorporated 2010-08-23
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 15.7y 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 Aug 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45310
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 15.7y

85/100
ready

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 15.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
36 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
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
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Aug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Profit before tax—£41.5k
Average employees100100

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-25
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  2. 2025-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-27
    ➕
    CAMPBELL, Rosemary Margaret appointed
    director
  6. 2022-09-27
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2022-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-08-19
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  9. 2021-08-19
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  10. 2021-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-09-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2015-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2010-10-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  19. 2010-08-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As G.T. DOWNIE LIMITED
  20. 2010-08-23
    ➕
    DOWNIE, Graeme appointed
    director
  21. 2010-08-23
    ➕
    HOGG, Raymond Stewart appointed
    director
  22. 2010-08-23
    ➖
    HOGG, Raymond Stewart resigned
    director

Owner dependency

91/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "DOWNIE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — 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 61. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Graeme Downie
Individual · British · DOB 04/1965 · age 61
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/07/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2010-08-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45310 — SIC 45310

Registered office

19 Rutland Square
Edinburgh
EH1 2BB

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-06
Last: 2025-08-23

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

CAMPBELL, Rosemary Margaret→
director · ~53y · appointed 2022-09-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DOWNIE, Graeme→
director · ~61y · appointed 2010-08-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HOGG, Raymond Stewart→
director · ~63y · appointed 2010-08-23 · resigned 2010-08-23
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Floating charge1 property27/10/201019/08/2021

Recent filings (36 total)

change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2026-05-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-26
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-28
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2021-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-21