JAMES HORNE (WHOLESALE) LTD

🌳Matureactive

SC449626 · ltd · incorporated 2013-05-09

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Stable recent picture — watch for any upcoming trigger event.

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 46719

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 68). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. 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

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

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

31 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

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.

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 · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Average employees	200	200

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 signals 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

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 persons-with-significant-control

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 persons-with-significant-control

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 persons-with-significant-control

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2026-06-04
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-10-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-09-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-11-03
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2016-11-03
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2016-11-03
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2016-10-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-09
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2013-05-09
🏢
Company incorporated
As JAMES HORNE (WHOLESALE) LTD
2013-05-09
➕
HORNE, Jessie Wilson appointed
director
2013-05-09
➕
HORNE, Stephen Watson 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

+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 "HORNE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
+No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

69/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Stephen Watson Horne Individual · British · DOB 05/1961 · age 65	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mrs Jessie Wilson Horneceased 27/04/2026· 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.

See pricing →

Similar companies

Active · Wholesale & distribution · FK postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
CENTRAL PRODUCE LTD→ SC349420 · est 2008	—	—	—	1600	17y	83	61y
SCOTIA SUPPLY CO. LTD.→ SC202132 · est 1999	—	—	£422.8k	—	26y	83	63y
ANGUS BRAIDWOOD & SON LIMITED→ SC114086 · est 1988	—	—	£1.62M	—	37y	82	81y
BATHROOM PLANET (STIRLING) LTD.→ SC183947 · est 1998	—	—	£114.1k	—	28y	82	58y
C L C PRESENTATION SYSTEMS LIMITED→ SC215799 · est 2001	—	—	£16.0k	—	25y	82	75y
C.T.S. (GRANGEMOUTH) LIMITED→ SC226255 · est 2001	—	—	—	1000	24y	82	80y
M G INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES LIMITED→ SC245064 · est 2003	—	—	—	800	23y	82	59y
STEWART MCDONALD (PLANT) LIMITED→ SC061597 · est 1977	—	—	£1.9k	—	49y	82	79y
RW AGENCIES LIMITED→ SC396418 · est 2011	—	—	£836.6k	—	15y	81	65y
CALEDONIAN AIRCRAFT SPARES LIMITED→ SC139284 · est 1992	—	—	—	1	33y	80	70y
CHEETAH ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED→ SC187332 · est 1998	—	—	—	200	27y	80	89y
CORINNE FORBES AGENCIES LTD.→ SC389650 · est 2010	—	—	—	200	15y	80	61y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

7 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

Incorporated2013-05-09

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC46719 — SIC 46719

Registered office

Unit 4b Gateway Business Park, Beancross Road

Grangemouth

FK3 8WX

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-23

Last: 2026-05-09

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

HORNE, Jessie Wilson→

director · ~68y · appointed 2013-05-09

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HORNE, Stephen Watson→

director · ~65y · appointed 2013-05-09

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (31 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-06-04

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC07

2026-06-04