GORDON SHANKS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC471444 · ltd · incorporated 2014-03-03
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
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
73/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Landscape service activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
30 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£8k£17k£25k£33k£41kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets—£16.6k
Current assets—£41.4k
Net assets—£1.6k
Average employees1200—

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 miscellaneous
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 miscellaneous
  • • 1 address
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-08
    📄
    legacy
    miscellaneous · RPCH01
  2. 2026-03-13
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-04-07
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  5. 2024-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-09-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2022-04-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2021-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-09-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2021-02-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-07-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-10-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-11-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-03-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As GORDON SHANKS LIMITED
  17. 2014-03-03
    ➕
    SHANKS, Gordon appointed
    director
  18. 2014-03-03
    ➕
    SHANKS, Kerry appointed
    director

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 "SHANKS" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

49/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Gordon Shanks
Individual · British · DOB 08/1977 · age 49
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control06/04/2016
Mrs Kerry Shanks
Individual · Scottish · DOB 11/1980 · age 46
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · trust interest · firm interest06/04/2016

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 →

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2014-03-03
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC81300 — Landscape service activities

Registered office

Dykehead Cottage Fiveways
Hurlford
Kilmarnock
KA1 5JR
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-17
Last: 2026-03-03

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

SHANKS, Gordon→
director · ~49y · appointed 2014-03-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHANKS, Kerry→
director · ~46y · appointed 2014-03-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (30 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-09
legacy
miscellaneous · RPCH01
2026-04-08
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-03-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-16
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-04-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-19
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-09-22
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-04-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-23