HAN JOHNSTON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC468616 · private-limited-guarant-nsc · incorporated 2014-01-29

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

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jan 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other food services

Sector: Accommodation & food service

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), 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).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

24 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 · FRS 102

Metric	2025-01-31	2024-01-31

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand

2025-09-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-09-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-09-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-09-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-01-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-02-10
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-no-member-list
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-02-01
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-no-member-list
annual-return · AR01
2014-01-29
🏢
Company incorporated
As HAN JOHNSTON LIMITED
2014-01-29
➕
HAN, Wen appointed
director
2014-01-29
➕
JOHNSTON, Mark appointed
director
2014-01-29
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

86/100

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 "JOHNSTON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
+No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

59/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 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 Mark Johnston Individual · British · DOB 09/1966 · age 60	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/04/2016
Mrs Wen Han Individual · Chinese · DOB 09/1966 · age 60	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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FIFE INNS (CUPAR) LIMITED→ SC118700 · est 1989 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	36y	—	—
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FOCHABERS CHIPPY LTD→ SC584843 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
FOOD A ONE LTD→ SC794119 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
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GALLOWHILL (COMMERCIAL) LIMITED→ SC815315 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
GBK 2021 LTD→ SC711262 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
GLENSHIRE HOSPITALITY LTD→ SC668114 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
GREIG WOODWARD CATERING LIMITED→ SC843737 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
H FISH AND CHIPS LIMITED→ SC597544 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
HANCOCK HOSPITALITY LTD→ SC865657 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
HAPPY FIFE LTD→ SC841507 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—

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.

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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

Typeprivate-limited-guarant-nsc

Incorporated2014-01-29

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC56290 — Other food services

Registered office

13 Aberdour Road

Burntisland

Fife

KY3 0EL

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-10-31

Last made up to: 2025-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-02-12

Last: 2026-01-29

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

HAN, Wen→

director · ~60y · appointed 2014-01-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

JOHNSTON, Mark→

director · ~60y · appointed 2014-01-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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