MACFARLANE MEAT PRODUCTS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC125286 · ltd · incorporated 1990-05-30
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 May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10130
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 46320Wholesale of meat and meat products
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 77/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 71). 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: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

6 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 35.5y

35/100
too messy

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 35.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
6 charges (6/6 with lender, 6/6 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
110 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 accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Average employees700700

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (34 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-02-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2024-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-09-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-02-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-05-10
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  8. 2022-05-10
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2022-03-09
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2022-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-01-06
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  12. 2022-01-06
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  13. 2022-01-06
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  14. 2022-01-06
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  15. 2022-01-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #5
  16. 2022-01-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  17. 2022-01-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  18. 2022-01-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  19. 2022-01-05
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  20. 2022-01-05
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #6
  21. 2021-02-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  22. 2020-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  23. 2005-02-24
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #7
  24. 2001-06-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #7
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  25. 1997-06-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #6
    Lender: William Macfarlane
  26. 1996-05-06
    ➖
    STEELE, Linda Mary Dick resigned
    director
  27. 1995-02-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  28. 1995-02-07
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  29. 1990-11-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  30. 1990-11-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  31. 1990-05-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As MACFARLANE MEAT PRODUCTS LIMITED
  32. 1990-05-30
    ➕
    MACFARLANE, Gerald William, Mr. appointed
    secretary
  33. 1990-05-30
    ➕
    RAE, Susanne Margaret appointed
    director
  34. 1990-05-30
    ➕
    STEELE, Linda Mary Dick appointed
    director

Owner dependency

98/100
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 "MACFARLANE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 36 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 71 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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 36 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
medium

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

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr. Gerald William Macfarlane
Individual · British · DOB 10/1957 · age 69
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Susanne Margaret Rae
Individual · British · DOB 02/1955 · age 71
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/05/2022

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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————19y8286y
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————19y8286y
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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
Incorporated1990-05-30
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC10130 — SIC 10130

Registered office

57-59 High Street
Dunblane
Perthshire
FK15 0EE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-16
Last: 2026-02-02

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

MACFARLANE, Gerald William, Mr.→
secretary · appointed 1990-05-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACFARLANE, Gerald William, Mr.→
director · ~69y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RAE, Susanne Margaret→
director · ~71y · appointed 1990-05-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STEELE, Linda Mary Dick→
director · ~78y · appointed 1990-05-30 · resigned 1996-05-06
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

6
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:6 of 6 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property27/06/200124/02/2005
satisfied
William Macfarlane
Standard security1 property11/06/199705/01/2022
satisfied
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Standard security1 property08/02/199506/01/2022
satisfied
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Standard security1 property07/02/199506/01/2022
satisfied
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Standard security1 property08/11/199006/01/2022
satisfied
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Floating charge1 property02/11/199006/01/2022

Recent filings (110 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-11
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-02-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-02
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-05-10
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-05-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-10
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-28