COLIN BLACK QUALITY BUTCHERS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC438881 · ltd · incorporated 2012-12-14
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 13.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£1.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale of meat and meat products in specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. 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 (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 13.3y

85/100
ready

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 13.3 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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
44 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
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 £1,720
Net assets shrinking
Down £20,736 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£2k
↓ 92% YoY
Current Assets
£10k
↓ 20% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£4k£9k£13k£18k£22kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-012024-04-01
Total assets£1.7k£22.5k
Current assets£9.8k£12.2k
Net assets£1.7k£22.5k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-04-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-04-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-04-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-10-13
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2020-07-01
    ➕
    BLACK, Morag appointed
    director
  8. 2020-04-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-08-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-04-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2019-04-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2019-01-07
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2018-12-06
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  14. 2018-12-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  15. 2018-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-06-04
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  17. 2018-04-13
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  18. 2018-04-12
    📄
    second-filing-notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · RP04PSC01
  19. 2018-04-12
    📄
    second-filing-of-director-appointment-with-name
    officers · RP04AP01
  20. 2018-04-02
    ➕
    BLACK, Colin appointed
    director
  21. 2018-03-01
    ➖
    JOHNSTON, Graeme Douglas resigned
    director
  22. 2018-03-01
    ➖
    JOHNSTON, John Richard resigned
    director
  23. 2013-01-29
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
  24. 2012-12-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COLIN BLACK QUALITY BUTCHERS LIMITED
  25. 2012-12-14
    ➕
    JOHNSTON, Graeme Douglas appointed
    director
  26. 2012-12-14
    ➕
    JOHNSTON, John Richard appointed
    director

Owner dependency

89/100
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 "BLACK" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

46/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

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.

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 Colin Black
Individual · British · DOB 12/1965 · age 61
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control02/04/2018
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr John Richard Johnstonceased 02/04/2018· 25-50% shares
  • Mr Graeme Douglas Johnstonceased 02/04/2018· 25-50% shares

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 →
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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 →
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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2012-12-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47220 — Retail sale of meat and meat products in specialised stores

Registered office

9 Station Road
Oakley
Dunfermline
KY12 9QF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-01
Last made up to: 2025-04-01
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-28
Last: 2025-09-14

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

BLACK, Colin→
director · ~61y · appointed 2018-04-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BLACK, Morag→
director · ~58y · appointed 2020-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSTON, Graeme Douglas→
director · ~62y · appointed 2012-12-14 · resigned 2018-03-01
Resigned
JOHNSTON, John Richard→
director · ~64y · appointed 2012-12-14 · resigned 2018-03-01
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
Bank of Scotland PLC
Floating charge1 property29/01/201306/12/2018

Recent filings (44 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-14
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2020-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-07