SHEPHERD & WEDDERBURN SECRETARIES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC209868 · ltd · incorporated 2000-08-10

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 Aug 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Solicitors

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

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

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (83/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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

16 officers (5 active, 16 linked, 14 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

22 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

87 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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	2024-08-31	2023-08-31

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

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (45 events)Click to expand

2025-06-09
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-04-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-05-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-07-19
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-05-05
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-04-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-05-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-07-02
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-06-30
➖
ANDERSON, Michael William resigned
director
2021-05-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-11-16
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2020-11-16
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-11-03
➕
CARTY, Gillian Anne appointed
director
2020-11-03
➖
HALLY, Paul William resigned
director
2020-05-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-05-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-05-01
➕
BLAIN, Andrew John appointed
director
2019-05-01
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2019-05-01
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2019-04-30
➖
GIBB, Stephen John resigned
director
2018-07-12
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2018-05-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-01-01
➕
RUST, Malcolm Hamilton appointed
director
2017-01-01
➕
GIBB, Stephen John appointed
director
2017-01-01
➕
HALLY, Paul William appointed
director
2016-12-31
➖
EVANS, Frances Bridget Geraldine resigned
director
2016-12-31
➖
RAZZAK, Syed Maaruf resigned
director
2016-06-08
➖
SANDISON, Charles John resigned
director
2015-04-01
➕
RAZZAK, Syed Maaruf appointed
director
2015-03-31
➖
MCLENNAN, Ian Fleming resigned
director
2014-04-06
➕
EVANS, Frances Bridget Geraldine appointed
director
2012-08-31
➖
MITCHELL, Fiona Janet resigned
director
2010-04-01
➕
SANDISON, Charles John appointed
director
2009-08-28
➖
O'NEILL, Anne Margaret resigned
director
2007-04-01
➕
MITCHELL, Fiona Janet appointed
director
2007-04-01
➕
O'NEILL, Anne Margaret appointed
director
2001-08-31
➕
WILLOX, Keir appointed
secretary
2001-08-31
➕
WILLOX, Keir appointed
director
2001-08-31
➖
MILLER, Innes Richard resigned
secretary
2001-08-31
➖
MILLER, Innes Richard resigned
director
2000-08-10
🏢
Company incorporated
As SHEPHERD & WEDDERBURN SECRETARIES LIMITED
2000-08-10
➕
MILLER, Innes Richard appointed
secretary
2000-08-10
➕
ANDERSON, Michael William appointed
director
2000-08-10
➕
MCLENNAN, Ian Fleming appointed
director
2000-08-10
➕
MILLER, Innes Richard appointed
director

Owner dependency

58/100

Moderate — manageable with handover

Some founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.

FACTORS

-4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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.)

Group structure

Shepherd & Wedderburn (Nominees) Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Shepherd & Wedderburn (Nominees) Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control

ultimate parent

⬇

SHEPHERD & WEDDERBURN SECRETARIES LIMITED

This company · SC209868

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Shepherd & Wedderburn (Nominees) Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · firm interest	13/07/2017

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

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ACCOUNTANTS PL LTD→ SC552385 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
ACGT LIMITED→ SC827482 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ACRECOAST LIMITED→ SC238234 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
ACTM HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC555738 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
ACUMEN (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC238211 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
ADD ACCOUNTING SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ SC575625 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
ADVANTAGE PLUS LTD→ SC877700 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ADVANTAGE SPORTS CONSULTANCY LTD→ SC566638 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—

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

Incorporated2000-08-10

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC69102 — Solicitors

Registered office

C/O Shepherd And Wedderburn Llp

9 Haymarket Square

Edinburgh

EH3 8FY

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-05-31

Last made up to: 2024-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-17

Last: 2025-08-03