ABZ AIRBORNE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC106591 · ltd · incorporated 1987-09-11
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 27.4y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 51102
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (78/100, 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 · oldest 27.4y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 27.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

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
75
Lenders & charges
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
105 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees800700

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-09-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-05-14
    ➕
    ADDLESHAW GODDARD (SCOTLAND) SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  7. 2021-05-14
    ➖
    TOUGH, Laurence Michael resigned
    secretary
  8. 2021-05-14
    📄
    appoint-corporate-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP04
  9. 2021-05-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2021-05-14
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  11. 2020-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-09-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-09-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-03-15
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  17. 2014-03-15
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  18. 2014-03-15
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  19. 2005-06-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  20. 2005-05-09
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  21. 1998-12-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  22. 1990-12-31
    ➖
    BRODIE, Colin resigned
    director
  23. 1987-09-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABZ AIRBORNE 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 65 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

66/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

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.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 39 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 med ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Graeme Brodie
Individual · United Kingdom · DOB 04/1961 · age 65
25–50%
—25-50% shares21/12/2016

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 →
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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
Incorporated1987-09-11
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC51102 — SIC 51102

Registered office

1st Floor North, Kingshill View Prime Four Business Park
Kingswells
Aberdeen
AB15 8PU
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-12
Last: 2026-02-26

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

ADDLESHAW GODDARD (SCOTLAND) SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2021-05-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRODIE, Donna→
director · ~65y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRODIE, Graeme→
director · ~65y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TOUGH, Laurence Michael→
secretary · resigned 2021-05-14
Resigned
BRODIE, Colin→
director · ~69y · resigned 1990-12-31
Resigned

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
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property01/06/200515/03/2014
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property09/05/200515/03/2014
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property01/12/199815/03/2014

Recent filings (105 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-09
appoint-corporate-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP04
2021-05-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-05-14
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2021-05-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-06