MEARNS TRACTORS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC261246 · ltd · incorporated 2003-12-23

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 22.1y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Support activities for crop production

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

33170SIC 33170
46610SIC 46610

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 83/100 (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 22.1y

50/100

clean up first

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

· Oldest live charge is 22.1 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, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)

Directors & officers

8 officers (5 active, 8 linked, 6 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

69 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

83/100Exceptional

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

100

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	2025-03-30	2024-03-30
Average employees	1	100

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (30 events)Click to expand

2025-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-17
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-03-17
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-03-17
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-03-17
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-03-17
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-03-17
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-03-06
➕
SMITH, Callum Andrew appointed
director
2025-03-06
➕
SMITH, Craig James appointed
director
2025-03-06
➕
SMITH, Jane Ina appointed
director
2025-03-06
➖
SMITH, Shaun Jamie resigned
director
2024-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-02-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-12-19
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2014-07-07
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
2004-03-30
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
2004-02-20
➕
SMITH, Jane Ina appointed
secretary
2004-02-20
➕
SMITH, Andrew Farquharson appointed
director
2004-02-20
➖
BLACKADDERS resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-02-20
➖
CLARK, Campbell John Scott resigned
nominee-director
2004-02-20
➕
SMITH, Shaun Jamie appointed
director
2003-12-23
🏢
Company incorporated
As MEARNS TRACTORS LIMITED
2003-12-23
➕
BLACKADDERS appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-12-23
➕
CLARK, Campbell John Scott 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

-4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

20/100

No succession signal

No meaningful acquirability indicators from public data.

SIGNALS

primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — SMITH, Callum Andrew (same surname) appointed 2025-03-06. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 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

clean

No 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 Andrew Farquharson Smith Individual · British · DOB 02/1964 · age 62	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mr Shaun Jamie Smithceased 06/03/2025· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · AB postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
EAST COAST VINERS (PEAS AND BEANS) LIMITED→ SC465480 · est 2013	£8.08M £6.21M–£9.94M	£13.37M	—	1800	12y	85	79y
TREETOP FORESTRY LIMITED→ SC292083 · est 2005	£5.00M £3.85M–£6.15M	£12.98M	—	4600	20y	87	72y
ALTNAHARRA ESTATE LIMITED→ SC228455 · est 2002	£634.2k £487.8k–£780.5k	—	—	8	24y	85	71y
CHALLENGE FISHING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC192237 · est 1998	—	—	—	6	27y	83	69y
FORTRIE FARMS LIMITED→ SC158055 · est 1995	—	—	—	10	31y	83	76y
GARDINER ICM LIMITED→ SC197812 · est 1999	—	—	£2.60M	—	26y	83	64y
LORANTHUS FISHING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC312585 · est 2006	—	—	—	0	19y	83	70y
M B AQUARIUS LIMITED→ SC259115 · est 2003	—	—	—	0	22y	83	70y
M.V. QUANTUS LIMITED→ SC150141 · est 1994	—	—	£32.29M	—	32y	83	69y
SHANNON FISHING LIMITED→ SC157000 · est 1995	—	—	£24.40M	—	31y	83	79y
UNITED FISH SELLING LIMITED→ SC077168 · est 1982	—	—	—	200	44y	83	72y
UNITY FISHING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC157635 · est 1995	—	—	£8.14M	—	31y	83	64y

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

Incorporated2003-12-23

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC01610 — Support activities for crop production

Registered office

East Drumhendry

Laurencekirk

Kincardineshire

AB30 1RL

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-30

Last made up to: 2025-03-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-05

Last: 2025-12-22