JAMES THOMSON (NEWARK), LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC016492 · ltd · incorporated 1931-06-30

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 Dec 2024

Net worth

£708.1k

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Non-trading company

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Dormant / non-trading with a 86-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 86). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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

4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

86 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £708,053

Cash YoY

+24%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£5k

↑ 24% YoY

Net Worth

£708k

~ YoY

Current Assets

£13k

↑ 8.7% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£708.1k	£705.0k
Current assets	£12.9k	£11.8k
Cash	£5.2k	£4.2k
Debtors	£7.7k	£7.7k
Net assets	£708.1k	£705.0k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand

2025-09-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-09-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-09-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-08-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2013-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
1997-09-29
➖
BARBOUR, Mary resigned
director
1931-06-30
🏢
Company incorporated
As JAMES THOMSON (NEWARK), LIMITED

Owner dependency

81/100

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 age: Director aged approximately 86 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 86 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 95 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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 James Ian Barbour Individual · Scottish · DOB 01/1940 · age 86	50–75%	50–75%	50-75% shares · 50-75% voting	06/04/2016
Mrs Mary Ramsey Lewis Individual · Scottish · DOB 04/1934 · age 92	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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Active · Holding company · DG postcode area

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J. KELLY & SONS (HAMILTON) LIMITED→ SC020771 · est 1939	£7.77M £6.60M–£8.93M	—	£7.77M	—	87y	82	63y
ROGERSON MOTORS LIMITED→ SC055796 · est 1974	£205.8k £174.9k–£236.7k	—	£205.8k	—	51y	82	83y
BUILDING CRAFTSMEN LIMITED→ SC184995 · est 1998	£51.5k £43.7k–£59.2k	—	£51.5k	—	28y	80	68y
MATHER PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT LIMITED→ SC317394 · est 2007	£1.0k £851–£1.2k	—	£1.0k	—	19y	82	69y
CAULDHAME LIMITED→ SC266350 · est 2004	£57 £48–£66	—	£57	—	22y	80	63y
CINNAMON 2007 LIMITED→ SC312763 · est 2006	—	—	—	0	19y	82	81y
CLAN CENTRE LIMITED→ SC113050 · est 1988 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	37y	81	62y
ELRIG ESTATE COMPANY LIMITED→ SC133061 · est 1991	—	—	—	100	34y	81	75y
OLDFOGGIES SKICLUB LIMITED→ SC305969 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	81	81y
THE COUNTRY TRADER LIMITED→ SC127204 · est 1990 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	35y	81	62y
ANTARTEX LIMITED→ SC071934 · est 1980 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	45y	80	62y
CLARK CORRA LTD→ SC352058 · est 2008	—	—	—	—	17y	80	64y

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1931-06-30

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC74990 — Non-trading company

Registered office

C/O Farries Kirk & Mcvean

Dumfries Enterprise Park

Heathhall

Dumfries

DG1 3SJ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-03

Last: 2025-08-20

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

BARBOUR, Frances Walker Hood→

secretary

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BARBOUR, Frances Walker Hood→

director · ~80y

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BARBOUR, James Ian→

director · ~86y

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BARBOUR, Mary→

director · ~123y · resigned 1997-09-29

Resigned

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