ROOT AND BRANCH ARBORICULTURE LTD

🌳Matureactive

SC516622 · ltd · incorporated 2015-09-28

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 Oct 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets

Sector: Wholesale & retail

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

81300Landscape service activities

Investor take

Pursue

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

Opportunity 79/100 (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 (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, 2 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

24 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

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 · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-10-31	2023-10-31
Average employees	300	500

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

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2025-07-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-07-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-10-06
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2018-10-06
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2018-07-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-06-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-10-03
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2015-11-25
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2015-09-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As ROOT AND BRANCH ARBORICULTURE LTD
2015-09-28
➕
BROOKS, Duncan Robert Finlay appointed
secretary
2015-09-28
➕
BROOKS, Duncan Robert Finlay appointed
director
2015-09-28
➕
WALKER, Colette appointed
director
2015-09-28
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

66/100

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 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

51/100

Moderate signal

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

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.
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 Duncan Robert Finlay Brooks Individual · Scottish · DOB 10/1966 · age 60	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016
Ms Colette Walker Individual · Scottish · DOB 11/1967 · age 59	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016

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

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THE HUB ON THE HIGH STREET LTD→ SC616464 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
THE KILT STUDIO LIMITED→ SC797940 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
THE KNIGHTS VAULT LTD→ SC363604 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
THE QUEEN STREET ART STUDIO LTD→ SC696993 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
THE WEE BOUTIQUE LTD→ SC820001 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
THE WEE SOUK LTD.→ SC728701 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
THE WILD WOOL COMPANY LTD→ SC811153 · est 2024 · 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.

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

Incorporated2015-09-28

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC47990 — Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets

Registered office

2 Trevelyan Place

Pencaitland

East Lothian

EH34 5AH

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-11

Last: 2025-09-27

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

BROOKS, Duncan Robert Finlay→

secretary · appointed 2015-09-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BROOKS, Duncan Robert Finlay→

director · ~60y · appointed 2015-09-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

WALKER, Colette→

director · ~59y · appointed 2015-09-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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