MCPHERSON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC218508 · ltd · incorporated 2001-04-25

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jul 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Freight transport by road

Sector: Transportation & storage

Investor take

Pursue

Conservative operator with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (73/100, director aged 71). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 5 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (78/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

6 live charges · 4 lenders · oldest 24.7y

45/100

clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

· Oldest live charge is 24.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· 4 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
· Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
· Profitable and stable/growing — lender coverage supportable.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (73/100)

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

1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

6 charges (6/6 with lender, 6/6 with type)

Directors & officers

13 officers (6 active, 13 linked, 8 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

5 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

112 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Profitable

Profit before tax £4,081,199

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2024-07-31
Profit before tax	£4.08M
Average employees	46800

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (51 events)Click to expand

2025-08-07
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2025-08-07
🔓
Charge satisfied #5
2025-07-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-13
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2024-08-06
🔒
Charge registered #6
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2024-04-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-06
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2024-02-05
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-07-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-15
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-02-14
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-01-24
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-01-24
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-11-23
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2022-11-22
🔒
Charge registered #5
Lender: National Grid Property Holdings Limited
2022-06-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-20
📄
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2021-12-21
📄
change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH04
2021-12-06
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-05-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-09
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2019-08-07
➖
BUNTAIN, Iain James resigned
director
2018-08-01
➕
MCPHERSON, James Alan appointed
director
2018-08-01
➕
MCPHERSON, Scott Alexander appointed
director
2018-03-31
➖
THOMSON, John Stuart Macgregor resigned
director
2018-02-01
➕
ELILIO, David appointed
director
2017-10-01
➕
SHEPHERD & WEDDERBURN SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2017-10-01
➖
PINSENT MASONS SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2015-08-01
➕
BROWN, Martin Robert appointed
director
2015-08-01
➕
THOMSON, John Stuart Macgregor appointed
director
2014-03-18
➕
BUNTAIN, Iain James appointed
director
2012-08-21
➖
MD SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2012-08-21
➕
PINSENT MASONS SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2010-08-14
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
2010-07-30
🔓
Charge satisfied #4
2010-07-30
🔓
Charge satisfied #3
2010-07-24
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2008-11-26
🔒
Charge registered #4
Lender: Alliance & Leicester Commercial Finance PLC
2008-08-01
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: Alliance & Leicester Commercial Finance PLC
2006-04-01
➕
MD SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2006-03-31
➖
LEDINGHAM CHALMERS resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-03-20
➖
GOW, John Fraser resigned
director
2001-08-17
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland Commercial Services Limited
2001-08-15
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2001-06-25
➕
MCPHERSON, Alexander David appointed
director
2001-06-14
➕
GOW, John Fraser appointed
director
2001-06-14
➖
DURANO LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2001-04-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As MCPHERSON LIMITED
2001-04-25
➕
LEDINGHAM CHALMERS appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary

Showing most recent 50 of 51 events

Owner dependency

88/100

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

-5 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "MCPHERSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100

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.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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.

Group structure

Mcpherson Group Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Mcpherson Group Holdings Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

MCPHERSON LIMITED

This company · SC218508

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
Mcpherson Group Holdings Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	30/11/2023

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Alexander David Mcphersonceased 30/11/2023· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting

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 →

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AKN LOGISTICS LTD→ SC766156 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
ALEX MARIO TRANS LTD→ SC770603 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ALEXANDER GAULD LIMITED→ SC738667 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
ANDERSEN AVIATION GROUP LTD→ SC542081 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
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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

Incorporated2001-04-25

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

37 Albyn Place

Aberdeen

Aberdeen City

AB10 1YN

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-04-30

Last made up to: 2024-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-16

Last: 2025-06-02