HENRY GIBSON STATIONERS LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC139376 · ltd · incorporated 1992-07-17
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 33.6y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
£294.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 17230
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 46180Agents specialised in the sale of other particular products
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 33.6y
85/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 33.6 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, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)
84
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
100 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.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Positive net assets
Net assets £294,161
Net assets shrinking
Down £24,552 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£294k
↓ 7.7% YoY
Current Assets
£194k
↓ 24% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £298.7k | £323.1k |
| Current assets | £194.3k | £255.1k |
| Net assets | £294.2k | £318.7k |
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 officers
Last 90 days
2
filings
- • 1 officers
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 1 officers
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (30 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-01➕ROSS, Neale David appointeddirector
- 2026-04-01📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2026-01-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-02📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-12-13📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2021-12-10📄capital-cancellation-sharescapital · SH06
- 2021-12-07📄capital-return-purchase-own-sharescapital · SH03
- 2021-11-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-24➖BRAND, Frank resigneddirector
- 2021-11-24📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2021-06-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-01-18📄withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statementpersons-with-significant-control · PSC09
- 2017-08-04➖ADAMS, Neil Napier resigneddirector
- 2000-07-14🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 1992-09-30🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
- 1992-09-24➕ROSS, David Douglas appointeddirector
- 1992-09-24➕ADAMS, Neil Napier appointeddirector
- 1992-09-24➕BRAND, Frank appointeddirector
- 1992-09-24➖HUNTER, Neil Cameron resignednominee-director
- 1992-09-24➖RENNIE, Thomas George resignednominee-director
- 1992-07-17🏢Company incorporatedAs HENRY GIBSON STATIONERS LIMITED
- 1992-07-17➕PETERKINS, SOLICITORS appointedcorporate-secretary
- 1992-07-17➕HUNTER, Neil Cameron appointednominee-director
- 1992-07-17➕RENNIE, Thomas George appointednominee-director
Owner dependency
84/100
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 34 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
36/100
Weak signalLimited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.
SIGNALS
- primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — ROSS, Neale David (same surname) appointed 2026-04-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
- 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 34 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanNo 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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr David Douglas Ross Individual · British · DOB 09/1962 · age 64 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares · firm interest | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Frank Brandceased 10/12/2021· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
6 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
Incorporated1992-07-17
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC17230 — SIC 17230
Registered office
100 Union Street
Aberdeen
AB10 1QR
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-16
Last: 2026-02-02
Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)
PETERKINS, SOLICITORS→
Activecorporate-secretary · appointed 1992-07-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ROSS, David Douglas→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 1992-09-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ROSS, Neale David→
Activedirector · ~37y · appointed 2026-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ADAMS, Neil Napier→
Resigneddirector · ~69y · appointed 1992-09-24 · resigned 2017-08-04
BRAND, Frank→
Resigneddirector · ~75y · appointed 1992-09-24 · resigned 2021-11-24
HUNTER, Neil Cameron→
Resignednominee-director · appointed 1992-07-17 · resigned 1992-09-24
RENNIE, Thomas George→
Resignednominee-director · ~79y · appointed 1992-07-17 · resigned 1992-09-24
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland | Floating charge | 1 property | 30/09/1992 | 14/07/2000 |
Recent filings (100 total)
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-02-02
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-12-13
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2021-12-10
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2021-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-26