FERN PLANT & LAND SERVICES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC537434 · ltd · incorporated 2016-06-08

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 closing · medium confidence

Getting harder to buy — profile has hardened into "well run hard buy" recently.

· Lifecycle stage: established → mature
· Investment thesis: unclassified → well_run_hard_buy

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

Picture improved over the last 30 days — 1 positive signal vs 0 negative.

↑Lifecycle stage: established → mature
·Investment thesis: unclassified → well_run_hard_buy

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 Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Renting and leasing of agricultural machinery and equipment

Sector: Administrative & support services

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 (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

22 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 · FRS 102

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Average employees	200	200

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (15 events)Click to expand

2025-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-09-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-11-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-06-21
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2016-06-14
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2016-06-08
🏢
Company incorporated
As FERN PLANT & LAND SERVICES LIMITED
2016-06-08
➕
MCALLISTER, Thomas Lumsden appointed
director
2016-06-08
➕
MCALLISTER, Tracey Ann appointed
director
2016-06-08
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

79/100

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.
+No director turnover: Company is 10 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 63. 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

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 Thomas Lumsden Mcallister Individual · British · DOB 10/1967 · age 59	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	08/06/2016
Mrs Tracey Ann Mcallister Individual · New Zealander · DOB 08/1963 · age 63	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	08/06/2016

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

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D J LAING GROUP LIMITED→ SC398954 · est 2011	£3.19M £2.35M–£4.03M	—	—	—	15y	82	79y
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JTC FURNITURE GROUP LIMITED→ SC368612 · est 2009	£753.7k £555.4k–£952.0k	—	—	4	16y	82	64y
CLYDE VALLEY INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC350813 · est 2008	—	—	—	2	17y	83	58y
THE INSIGHTS GROUP LIMITED→ SC166543 · est 1996 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	30y	83	86y
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DEEP TEK LIMITED→ SC191642 · est 1998	—	—	—	200	27y	82	68y
DOUGLAS J. MARTIN & CO. (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC297521 · est 2006	—	—	£35.1k	—	20y	82	70y
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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

Incorporated2016-06-08

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC77310 — Renting and leasing of agricultural machinery and equipment

Registered office

Denhead Cottage,

Fern

Forfar

Angus

DD8 3QW

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-29

Last: 2025-06-15

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MCALLISTER, Thomas Lumsden→

director · ~59y · appointed 2016-06-08

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCALLISTER, Tracey Ann→

director · ~63y · appointed 2016-06-08

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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