MACGARVIE & CO LTD

🌳Matureactive
SC478243 · ltd · incorporated 2014-05-22
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 May 2025
Net worth
£24.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 66). 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
26 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £24,106

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£21k
Net Worth
£24k
↑ 21% YoY
Current Assets
£37k
↑ 18% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£7k£15k£22k£30k£37kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£24.1k£20.0k
Current assets£37.2k£31.6k
Cash£20.6k—
Debtors£16.6k—
Net assets£24.1k£20.0k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-10-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-07-17
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2025-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-11-03
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2023-11-01
    ➕
    MACGARVIE, Alison Christine appointed
    director
  8. 2023-02-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-02-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-05-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-03-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-15
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2016-02-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-06-09
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2014-05-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As MACGARVIE & CO LTD
  19. 2014-05-22
    ➕
    MACGARVIE, James Stuart 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 "MACGARVIE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
  • +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

61/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 low
Multiple registered office changes
low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr James Stuart Macgarvie
Individual · British · DOB 09/1960 · age 66
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control30/06/2016

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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2014-05-22
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Unit 5 Gateway Business Park
Beancross Road
Grangemouth
FK3 8WX
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-05
Last: 2025-05-22

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MACGARVIE, Alison Christine→
director · ~63y · appointed 2023-11-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACGARVIE, James Stuart→
director · ~66y · appointed 2014-05-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (26 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-10
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-10-21
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-07-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-28
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-28