JOHN SHEPHERD TRANSPORT LTD.
🌳Matureactive
SC254572 · ltd · incorporated 2003-08-21
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 21.8y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
£250.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Freight transport by road
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
PursueActive trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. 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 (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 21.8y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 21.8 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 (78/100)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 (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
59 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 £250,654
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£251k
↑ 13% YoY
Current Assets
£37k
↓ 70% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £362.1k | £399.9k |
| Current assets | £37.3k | £125.6k |
| Net assets | £250.7k | £222.7k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-19📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2024-08-19🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2024-04-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-22📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2024-03-01➕SHEPHERD, John James appointeddirector
- 2023-04-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-04-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-04-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-04-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-08-05📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-04-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2004-09-07🔒Charge registered #2Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
- 2004-07-09🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Cattles Invoice Finance Limited
- 2003-08-21🏢Company incorporatedAs JOHN SHEPHERD TRANSPORT LTD.
- 2003-08-21➕SHEPHERD, Mary appointedsecretary
- 2003-08-21➕SHEPHERD, John appointeddirector
- 2003-08-21➕BRIAN REID LTD. appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2003-08-21➖BRIAN REID LTD. resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2003-08-21➕STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2003-08-21➖STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
99/100
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.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "SHEPHERD" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — 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 — SHEPHERD, John James (same surname) appointed 2024-03-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. 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.
- 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 John Shepherd Individual · British · DOB 04/1963 · age 63 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 22/07/2016 |
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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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MALAKI LIMITED→ SC722207 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| MALMAR TAXIS LTD→ SC644456 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| MONEYACRES TRANSPORT LTD.→ SC317917 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| P & C HAMILTON LTD→ SC298329 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| P.M.P.S KILMARNOCK LTD→ SC858999 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| PORTRAIL GROUP (FLOATING PIERS) LIMITED→ SC345505 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| PPS - PRIME PARCEL SERVICES LTD→ SC666756 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| S D BRINDLE LTD→ SC655185 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| S NISBET LOGISTICS LTD→ SC775087 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| S&R LIMOUSINES & WEDDING CARS LTD→ SC800593 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| SAFE SECURE STORAGE LTD→ SC688369 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| SANDY ANDERSON TRANSPORT LTD→ SC172958 · est 1997 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 29y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2003-08-21
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road
Registered office
37 Blackthorn Avenue
Beith
Ayrshire
KA15 2AR
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-28
Last: 2025-07-14
Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)
Active
SHEPHERD, John James→
Activedirector · ~27y · appointed 2024-03-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SHEPHERD, John→
Activedirector · ~63y · appointed 2003-08-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BRIAN REID LTD.→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-08-21 · resigned 2003-08-21
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-08-21 · resigned 2003-08-21
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 Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland | Bond & floating charge | 1 property | 07/09/2004 | — | |
| satisfied | Cattles Invoice Finance Cattles Invoice Finance Limited | Floating charge | 1 property | 09/07/2004 | 19/08/2024 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (59 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-04-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-27
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-08
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-03-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-19