AUSTIN LAFFERTY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC277684 · ltd · incorporated 2004-12-21
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 19.5y old — refinance window within 12 months
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No material changes in the last 90 days.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2025
Net worth
£745.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
83/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Solicitors
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). 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

1 live charge · oldest 19.5y

65/100
clean up first

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 19.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (72/100)

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
50
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
73 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
83/100Exceptional
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
85
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 declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £745,016

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£5.7m
Net Worth
£745k
Current Assets
£11m
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-12-31
Total assets£762.0k
Current assets£11.18M
Cash£5.69M
Debtors£5.48M
Net assets£745.0k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-01-09
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  5. 2024-01-09
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  6. 2024-01-05
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  7. 2024-01-05
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  8. 2024-01-05
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  9. 2024-01-04
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  10. 2024-01-04
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  11. 2023-09-07
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2023-06-29
    📄
    capital-name-of-class-of-shares
    capital · SH08
  13. 2023-06-28
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  14. 2023-04-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2023-01-04
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  16. 2023-01-04
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  17. 2022-12-31
    ➕
    AHMED, Omair Maubeen appointed
    director
  18. 2022-12-31
    ➖
    LAFFERTY, Austin Joseph resigned
    director
  19. 2022-12-15
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  20. 2022-12-15
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  21. 2022-10-18
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  22. 2022-10-18
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  23. 2022-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  24. 2022-08-25
    ➖
    LAFFERTY, Yvonne resigned
    secretary
  25. 2007-01-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  26. 2006-05-01
    ➕
    ROBERTS, John Simpson appointed
    director
  27. 2004-12-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AUSTIN LAFFERTY LIMITED
  28. 2004-12-21
    ➕
    LAFFERTY, Yvonne appointed
    secretary
  29. 2004-12-21
    ➕
    LAFFERTY, Austin Joseph appointed
    director

Owner dependency

76/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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

2 corporate shareholders identified. Group structure is distributed.

🏛️
Oa Legal Ltd
Corporate parent · holds 25-50% shares
significant stake
🏛️
Jsr Legal Ltd
Corporate parent · holds 50-75% shares
majority
⬇
AUSTIN LAFFERTY LIMITED
This company · SC277684

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

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Jsr Legal Ltd
Corporate entity
50–75%
25–50%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/06/2023
Oa Legal Ltd
Corporate entity
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/06/2023
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr John Simpson Robertsceased 06/06/2023· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting
  • Mr Austin Joseph Laffertyceased 25/08/2022· 25-50% shares · 25-50% 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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————26y8359y
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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
Incorporated2004-12-21
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC69102 — Solicitors

Registered office

37 Portland Road
Kilmarnock
KA1 2DJ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-04
Last: 2025-12-21

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

AHMED, Omair Maubeen→
director · ~41y · appointed 2022-12-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ROBERTS, John Simpson→
director · ~62y · appointed 2006-05-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LAFFERTY, Yvonne→
secretary · appointed 2004-12-21 · resigned 2022-08-25
Resigned
LAFFERTY, Austin Joseph→
director · ~67y · appointed 2004-12-21 · resigned 2022-12-31
Resigned

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Floating charge1 property08/01/2007—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (73 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-03-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-05-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-10
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2024-01-09
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-01-09
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-01-05
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2024-01-05
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2024-01-05
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-01-04
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2024-01-04
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-09-07
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2023-06-29