SANDY DOWNIE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC451073 · ltd · incorporated 2013-05-29

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

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

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Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

£346.2k

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 45200

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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

3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £346,211

Net assets shrinking

Down £30,854 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£346k

↓ 8.2% YoY

Current Assets

£388k

↓ 3.0% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£346.2k	£377.1k
Current assets	£387.6k	£399.6k
Net assets	£346.2k	£377.1k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand

2025-12-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-06-07
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2017-06-07
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2017-06-07
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2016-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-07
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-06-09
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2013-05-29
🏢
Company incorporated
As SANDY DOWNIE LIMITED
2013-05-29
➕
DOWNIE, Kathleen May appointed
secretary
2013-05-29
➕
DOWNIE, Alexander Mair appointed
director
2013-05-29
➕
DOWNIE, Kathleen May appointed
director

Owner dependency

96/100

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.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 77 years old. Natural succession window is now.
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
Mr Alexander Mair Downie Individual · British · DOB 10/1949 · age 77	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	30/05/2016
Mrs Kathleen May Downie Individual · British · DOB 03/1949 · age 77	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	30/05/2016

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

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

Incorporated2013-05-29

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

28 Broad Street

Peterhead

Aberdeenshire

AB42 1BY

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-12

Last: 2025-05-29

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

DOWNIE, Kathleen May→

secretary · appointed 2013-05-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DOWNIE, Alexander Mair→

director · ~77y · appointed 2013-05-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DOWNIE, Kathleen May→

director · ~77y · appointed 2013-05-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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