R.F. & M.H.DONALDSON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC071148 · ltd · incorporated 1980-04-09
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Jun 2025
Net worth
£472.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10822
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 5 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

5 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 42.3y

30/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 42.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

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
5 charges (5/5 with lender, 5/5 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
108 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £472,556
Cash YoY
-18%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£67k
↓ 18% YoY
Net Worth
£473k
↑ 4.1% YoY
Current Assets
£189k
↓ 3.4% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£95k£189k£284k£378k£473kJun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Total assets£483.9k£486.3k
Current assets£189.0k£195.8k
Cash£66.8k£81.8k
Debtors£91.7k£83.4k
Net assets£472.6k£453.7k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-04-21
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  7. 2021-04-15
    ➖
    DONALDSON, Morag Hamilton resigned
    secretary
  8. 2021-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-12-07
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2018-12-07
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  12. 2018-11-23
    ➖
    DONALDSON, Morag Hamilton resigned
    director
  13. 2018-11-23
    ➖
    DONALDSON, Robert Findlay resigned
    director
  14. 2018-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-03-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-04-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2016-04-28
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  19. 2010-09-29
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  20. 2009-07-20
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  21. 2000-02-24
    ➕
    DONALDSON, Caroline appointed
    director
  22. 1994-04-05
    ➕
    DONALDSON, Graham Tom appointed
    director
  23. 1992-12-14
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  24. 1990-10-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  25. 1984-01-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  26. 1980-04-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As R.F. & M.H.DONALDSON LIMITED

Owner dependency

99/100
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 "DONALDSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 32 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 64. 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 32 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 46 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

1 low
5 live charges
low

Heavily leveraged with multiple live security positions — understand the capital structure before proceeding.

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Graham Tom Donaldson
Individual · British · DOB 09/1962 · age 64
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mrs Caroline Donaldson
Individual · British · DOB 02/1963 · age 63
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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
Incorporated1980-04-09
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC10822 — SIC 10822

Registered office

14 West High Street
Crieff
Perthshire
PH7 4DL

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last: 2026-04-16

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

DONALDSON, Caroline→
director · ~63y · appointed 2000-02-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DONALDSON, Graham Tom→
director · ~64y · appointed 1994-04-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DONALDSON, Morag Hamilton→
secretary · resigned 2021-04-15
Resigned
DONALDSON, Morag Hamilton→
director · ~87y · resigned 2018-11-23
Resigned
DONALDSON, Robert Findlay→
director · ~88y · resigned 2018-11-23
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

5
Total charges
5
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:5 of 5 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
Standard security1 property29/09/2010—
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
Standard security1 property20/07/2009—
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Floating charge1 property14/12/1992—
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Standard security2 properties22/10/1990—
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Standard security1 property18/01/1984—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (108 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-21
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2021-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-09