AC&H 21 LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC185901 · ltd · incorporated 1998-05-19

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

81/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 99999

Sector: Extraterritorial bodies

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

14 officers (6 active, 14 linked, 12 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

84 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

81/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

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	2025-05-31	2024-05-31

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (41 events)Click to expand

2026-02-08
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-02-08
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-02-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-09-22
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-09-22
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-02-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-02-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-02-07
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-02-07
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-02-07
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-02-07
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-02-07
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-02-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-02-07
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-02-01
➕
DOWNIE, Christopher James appointed
director
2021-02-01
➕
DOWNIE, Jack Murray appointed
director
2021-02-01
➕
DOWNIE, Matthew David appointed
director
2021-02-01
➕
DOWNIE, Sophie Catherine appointed
director
2021-01-31
➖
MURRAY, Robert Douglas resigned
director
2020-01-31
➖
MURRAY, Annette Catherine resigned
director
2020-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-02-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2009-08-26
➖
SMITH, Helen resigned
secretary
2009-08-26
➖
LEES, Beverley resigned
director
2009-08-26
➖
SMITH, Douglas Andrew resigned
director
2009-08-26
➖
SMITH, Helen resigned
director
2009-08-06
➕
DOWNIE, Carole Barbara appointed
director
2009-08-06
➕
DOWNIE, James appointed
director
2009-08-06
➕
MURRAY, Annette Catherine appointed
director
2009-08-06
➕
MURRAY, Robert Douglas appointed
director
2008-06-04
➕
LEES, Beverley appointed
director
1998-08-11
➕
SMITH, Helen appointed
secretary
1998-08-11
➖
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL & HARLEY resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1998-08-11
➖
MURRAY, Stuart Ritchie resigned
nominee-director
1998-08-11
➕
SMITH, Douglas Andrew appointed
director
1998-08-11
➕
SMITH, Helen appointed
director
1998-05-19
🏢
Company incorporated
As AC&H 21 LIMITED
1998-05-19
➕
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL & HARLEY appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1998-05-19
➕
MURRAY, Stuart Ritchie appointed
nominee-director

Owner dependency

66/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS

-6 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

63/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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

clean

No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr James Downie Individual · British · DOB 05/1967 · age 59	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016
Mrs Carole Barbara Downie Individual · British · DOB 10/1967 · age 59	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.

Similar companies

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17 CAPITAL CO-INVEST LP→ SL007920 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
17C ECIP 2025 FEEDER LP→ SL037473 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
17CAPITAL (CREOLE) SCOTS LP→ SL037011 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
17CAPITAL (MADISON) SCOT LP→ SL036034 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
17CAPITAL (PHOENIX) SCOT LP→ SL035522 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
17CAPITAL 5 INVESTMENTS LP→ SL035235 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
17CAPITAL CF2 SCOTS SPV GP LLP→ SO307900 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
17CAPITAL CO-INVEST (E) SCOTS GP LLP→ SO308223 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
17CAPITAL CO-INVEST (E) SCOTS LP→ SL037676 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
17CAPITAL FUND 4 L.P.→ SL027009 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
17CAPITAL HC LP→ SL020075 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
17CAPITAL MICHELANGELO LP→ SL035813 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—

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 →

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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

Incorporated1998-05-19

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999

Registered office

70 Tylers Acre Gardens

Edinburgh

EH12 7JH

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-27

Last: 2025-06-13