DALBEATTIE FINANCE COMPANY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC031300 · ltd · incorporated 1956-02-04
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
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Financial leasing
Sector: Financial & insurance
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 64921Credit granting by non-deposit taking finance houses and other specialist consumer credit grantors
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 49.6y

35/100
too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

  • · Oldest live charge is 49.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Legal-friction score 35/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (57/100)

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
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
11 officers (3 active, 11 linked, 10 with DOB)
88
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
119 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (33 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-16
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  2. 2026-01-14
    ➖
    HOWIE, John Cameron resigned
    director
  3. 2025-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-05-28
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2024-08-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-10-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-10-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-08-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-11-01
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  12. 2018-11-01
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2018-11-01
    📄
    withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
  14. 2018-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-10-30
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  16. 2017-10-26
    ➖
    JOHNSTONE, Douglas resigned
    director
  17. 2017-07-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-08-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-group
    accounts · AA
  19. 2011-04-01
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  20. 2011-03-24
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Co-Operative Bank PLC
  21. 2010-09-13
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  22. 2009-08-29
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  23. 2004-08-12
    ➖
    CAMERON, Hector Ferguson resigned
    director
  24. 2002-02-19
    ➖
    DONALDSON, John Archibald resigned
    director
  25. 1998-03-31
    ➖
    SMITH, John Lambie resigned
    director
  26. 1998-02-06
    ➕
    HOWIE, John Cameron appointed
    director
  27. 1995-08-24
    ➖
    WHITE, Robert Brownlee resigned
    director
  28. 1992-05-22
    ➕
    CAMERON, Hector Ferguson appointed
    director
  29. 1990-06-01
    ➕
    IRELAND, David Peter appointed
    director
  30. 1990-05-31
    ➖
    WHITELAW, Douglas Kerr resigned
    director
  31. 1989-12-15
    ➖
    JOHNSTONE, John resigned
    director
  32. 1976-08-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  33. 1956-02-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DALBEATTIE FINANCE COMPANY LIMITED

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 36 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 36 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 70 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Douglas John Dorian Johnstone
Individual · British · DOB 12/1966 · age 60
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting21/09/2018
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Ms Helen Isobel Niven Johnstoneceased 28/05/2025· 25-50% voting

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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🔒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
Incorporated1956-02-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC64910 — Financial leasing

Registered office

15/33 Maxwell Street
Dalbeattie
DG5 4AJ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-05
Last: 2025-07-22

Officers (3 active · 8 resigned)

IRELAND, David Peter→
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
IRELAND, David Peter→
director · ~65y · appointed 1990-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSTONE, Douglas John Dorian→
director · ~60y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CAMERON, Hector Ferguson→
director · ~97y · appointed 1992-05-22 · resigned 2004-08-12
Resigned
DONALDSON, John Archibald→
director · ~97y · resigned 2002-02-19
Resigned
HOWIE, John Cameron→
director · ~85y · appointed 1998-02-06 · resigned 2026-01-14
Resigned
JOHNSTONE, Douglas→
director · ~105y · resigned 2017-10-26
Resigned
JOHNSTONE, John→
director · ~112y · resigned 1989-12-15
Resigned
SMITH, John Lambie→
director · ~99y · resigned 1998-03-31
Resigned
WHITE, Robert Brownlee→
director · ~79y · resigned 1995-08-24
Resigned
WHITELAW, Douglas Kerr→
director · ~99y · resigned 1990-05-31
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

3
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Co-operative Bank
Co-Operative Bank PLC
Floating charge1 property24/03/2011—
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Floating charge1 property13/09/201001/04/2011
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property27/08/197629/08/2009
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (119 total)

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2025-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-22
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2024-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2023-10-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2022-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2021-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2020-10-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2019-08-07