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.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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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

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

29 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

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand

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
2015-09-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-11
📄
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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Jessie Wilson Horne Individual · British · DOB 10/1958 · age 68	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016
Mr Stephen Watson Horne Individual · British · DOB 05/1961 · age 65	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	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 · Wholesale & distribution · FK postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
FORTH IMPORT EXPORT LTD→ SC880666 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
H2O FOR YOU LIMITED→ SC199968 · est 1999 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	26y	—	—
KANE EQUIPMENT LTD→ SC816616 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
MOHSAN ENTERPRISES LTD→ SC639136 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
ON-IT LIVESTOCK LTD→ SC866620 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
PHILIP INDUSTRIAL LTD→ SC281824 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
PLUMB MOUNTAIN LTD→ SC851131 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
PRECISION BIONUTRITION LIMITED→ SC860036 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
QUATRE VIN LTD→ SC686123 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
QUVO LIMITED→ SC743614 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
R W WARNOCK LTD→ SC421687 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
RECORD WINES LTD→ SC868565 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

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.

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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: 2026-05-23

Last: 2025-05-09

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.