ALBANY BUSINESS CENTRES LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC096020 · ltd · incorporated 1985-11-18
Investment thesis
Property vehicle with leveraged stack — refinance / partial-release angle.
Why interesting: Asset-backed; value largely in underlying property; lender engagement likely possible.
Why risky: Multiple lenders to manage; inter-creditor friction and partial-release cost possible.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 35.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Management of real estate on a fee or contract basis
Sector: Real estate
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 35.0y
70/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 35.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
106 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
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 | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 700 | 700 |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
- 2025-05-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-29📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2024-11-29🔓Charge satisfied #3
- 2024-08-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-04📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-01-04📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-04-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-05-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-05-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-01-16📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2016-11-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2016-11-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2004-12-23➕GILLEN, Alison Norma, Mrs. appointeddirector
- 2004-09-30🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2004-09-30🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2004-09-24🔒Charge registered #3Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
- 2002-01-01➕GILLEN, Alison Norma appointedsecretary
- 2002-01-01➖GILLEN, Margaret Gay resignedsecretary
- 1998-03-31🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
- 1991-05-11🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
- 1985-11-18🏢Company incorporatedAs ALBANY BUSINESS CENTRES LIMITED
Owner dependency
91/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong 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 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 40 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 med ·Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
mediumMultiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Andrew Higgins Gillen Individual · British · DOB 02/1961 · age 65 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs. Alison Norma Gillen Individual · British · DOB 04/1964 · age 62 | 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.
🔒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 →Similar companies
Active · Property · EH postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BANDEATH HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC584868 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| BANNERMAN DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED→ SC080817 · est 1982 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 43y | — | — |
| BELHAVEN DEVELOPMENTS LTD→ SC544489 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| BELLIS REALTY LTD→ SC841383 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BENCHMARK LETTINGS LIMITED→ SC595971 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| BENNIE FAMILY HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC816168 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BESPOKE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED→ SC200930 · est 1999 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 26y | — | — |
| BINGER FLAST LTD→ SC828393 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BINNIE PROPERTIES UK LTD→ SC622517 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| BIPYRAMID LTD→ SC750931 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BIRKBY AND BASS PROPERTIES LTD→ SC801742 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BIRKSCAIRN LTD→ SC839114 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1985-11-18
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC68320 — Management of real estate on a fee or contract basis
Registered office
Hudson House
8 Albany Street
Edinburgh
EH1 3QB
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-15
Last: 2026-01-01
Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)
GILLEN, Alison Norma→
Activesecretary · appointed 2002-01-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
GILLEN, Alison Norma, Mrs.→
Activedirector · ~62y · appointed 2004-12-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GILLEN, Margaret Gay→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 2002-01-01
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
3
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland | Bond & floating charge | 1 property | 24/09/2004 | 29/11/2024 | |
| satisfied | Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company | Floating charge | 1 property | 31/03/1998 | 30/09/2004 | |
| satisfied | Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company | Floating charge | 1 property | 11/05/1991 | 30/09/2004 |
Recent filings (106 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-09
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-05
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-01-04
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-01-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-09