ABERDEEN OFFICE SUPPLIES LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC238550 · ltd · incorporated 2002-10-23
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 23.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jan 2025
Net worth
£59.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46650
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 23.0y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 23.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
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
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
60 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 · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £59,243
Cash YoY
+267%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£120k
↑ 267% YoY
Net Worth
£59k
↑ 18% YoY
Current Assets
£181k
↑ 24% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-01-31 | 2024-01-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £97.5k | £105.6k |
| Current assets | £180.5k | £146.0k |
| Cash | £119.8k | £32.6k |
| Debtors | £53.2k | £94.4k |
| Net assets | £59.2k | £50.3k |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-07-28➖ADD ACCOUNTANCY LIMITED resignedcorporate-secretary
- 2025-07-28📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2025-07-28📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2025-07-28🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2024-10-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-10-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-10-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-04-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-02📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-10-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-11-03📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2006-04-26🔒Charge registered #2Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2003-05-01➕ADD ACCOUNTANCY LIMITED appointedcorporate-secretary
- 2003-05-01➖JM TAYLOR LIMITED resignedcorporate-secretary
- 2003-04-14🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
- 2002-12-31➖DEANS, Elaine resigneddirector
- 2002-10-23🏢Company incorporatedAs ABERDEEN OFFICE SUPPLIES LIMITED
- 2002-10-23➕BALSILLIE, Russell appointeddirector
- 2002-10-23➕PHILIP, Kenny appointeddirector
- 2002-10-23➕JM TAYLOR LIMITED appointedcorporate-secretary
- 2002-10-23➕DEANS, Elaine appointeddirector
Owner dependency
83/100
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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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
cleanNo 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 Russell Balsillie Individual · British · DOB 08/1959 · age 67 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board controlsig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest | 23/10/2016 |
Mr Kenny Philip Individual · British · DOB 08/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board controlsig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest | 23/10/2016 |
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
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
Incorporated2002-10-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46650 — SIC 46650
Registered office
6 Market Square
Oldmeldrum
Inverurie
Aberdeenshire
AB51 0AA
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-06
Last: 2025-10-23
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
BALSILLIE, Russell→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2002-10-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
PHILIP, Kenny→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2002-10-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ADD ACCOUNTANCY LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-secretary · appointed 2003-05-01 · resigned 2025-07-28
JM TAYLOR LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-secretary · appointed 2002-10-23 · resigned 2003-05-01
DEANS, Elaine→
Resigneddirector · ~53y · appointed 2002-10-23 · resigned 2002-12-31
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Bond & floating charge | 1 property | 26/04/2006 | — | |
| satisfied | Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company | Floating charge | 1 property | 14/04/2003 | 28/07/2025 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (60 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-03
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-07-28
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2025-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-30