THE PORTLAND ARMS (SCOTLAND) LTD.

🌳Matureactive
SC456868 · ltd · incorporated 2013-08-15
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 12.5y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Public houses and bars
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. 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

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 12.5y

70/100
ready

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 12.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (71/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
39 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-29
Average employees5000

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-06-16
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2024-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-06-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-11-10
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  9. 2019-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-09-25
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  13. 2017-03-20
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2016-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-09-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  16. 2015-08-26
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Tennent Caledonian Breweries Wholesale Limited
  17. 2013-11-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Tennent Caledonian Breweries UK Limited
  18. 2013-08-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE PORTLAND ARMS (SCOTLAND) LTD.
  19. 2013-08-15
    ➕
    BROWN, Alan appointed
    director
  20. 2013-08-15
    ➕
    BROWN, Helen Mcallister Irvine appointed
    director
  21. 2013-08-15
    ➕
    MABBOTT, Stephen George appointed
    director
  22. 2013-08-15
    ➖
    MABBOTT, Stephen George resigned
    director

Owner dependency

74/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 63. 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alan Brown
Individual · British · DOB 08/1963 · age 63
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Helen Mcallister Irvine Brown
Individual · British · DOB 12/1964 · age 62
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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

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 →
🔒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
Incorporated2013-08-15
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC56302 — Public houses and bars

Registered office

22-26 Kilmarnock Road
Crosshouse
Kilmarnock
KA2 0HA
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-29
Last made up to: 2024-12-29
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-29
Last: 2025-08-15

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

BROWN, Alan→
director · ~63y · appointed 2013-08-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BROWN, Helen Mcallister Irvine→
director · ~62y · appointed 2013-08-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MABBOTT, Stephen George→
director · ~76y · appointed 2013-08-15 · resigned 2013-08-15
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Tennent Caledonian Breweries Wholesale
Tennent Caledonian Breweries Wholesale Limited
A registered charge—26/08/2015—
outstanding
Tennent Caledonian Breweries UK
Tennent Caledonian Breweries UK Limited
A registered charge1 property22/11/2013—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (39 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-07-23
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-06-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-23
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2020-11-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-27