JACKIE JOHNSTON LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC447298 · ltd · incorporated 2013-04-10
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£53.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Support activities for crop production
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 12.1y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 12.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
28 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 · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £53,948
Net assets shrinking
Down £26,893 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£54k
↓ 33% YoY
Current Assets
£27k
↓ 56% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£16k£32k£49k£65k£81kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£56.1k£107.3k
Current assets£27.5k£61.8k
Net assets£53.9k£80.8k

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 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-11-05
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  7. 2020-11-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-01-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-05-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2016-01-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-04-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-04-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  17. 2013-04-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JACKIE JOHNSTON LIMITED
  18. 2013-04-10
    ➕
    JOHNSTON, Elizabeth Helen appointed
    secretary
  19. 2013-04-10
    ➕
    JOHNSTON, John Pringle appointed
    director

Owner dependency

100/100
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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "JOHNSTON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Pringle Johnston
Individual · British · DOB 03/1960 · age 66
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control01/05/2016
Ms Elizabeth Johnston
Individual · British · DOB 06/1961 · age 65
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting05/11/2021

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

8 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
Incorporated2013-04-10
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC01610 — Support activities for crop production

Registered office

Highland Brae
Lilliesleaf
Melrose
Roxburghshire
TD6 9JN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-16
Last: 2026-04-02

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

JOHNSTON, Elizabeth Helen→
secretary · appointed 2013-04-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSTON, John Pringle→
director · ~66y · appointed 2013-04-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge—11/04/2014—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (28 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-24
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2021-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-17