FRANCES MACDONALD LTD

🌳Matureactive
SC278848 · ltd · incorporated 2005-01-25
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
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jan 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Artistic creation
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 86-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 86). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
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
55 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Jan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Average employees100100

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-04
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2024-03-04
    📄
    change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH04
  5. 2023-10-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-10-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-10-25
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  9. 2021-02-04
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  10. 2021-02-01
    ➕
    SPENCER, Julia Laura appointed
    director
  11. 2021-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-01-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2018-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2005-01-26
    ➕
    WILLIAM DUNCAN & CO appointed
    corporate-secretary
  18. 2005-01-26
    ➕
    RYAN, Frances Julia appointed
    director
  19. 2005-01-26
    ➖
    FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 2005-01-26
    ➖
    FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  21. 2005-01-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FRANCES MACDONALD LTD
  22. 2005-01-25
    ➕
    FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2005-01-25
    ➕
    FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 86 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 86 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Frances Julia Ryan
Individual · British · DOB 10/1940 · age 86
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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

Active · Leisure & entertainment · PA postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
FLY WORLD TRAVEL LIMITED→
SC838361 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
FUSION FIT LTD→
SC873770 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
GARY INNES LTD→
SC586606 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
————8y——
GB GOLF (DMC) LTD→
SC746146 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————3y——
GBORBILOR TRAVEL AND TOUR LTD→
SC882529 · est 2026 · no financials extracted
———————
GLASGOW FLYING CLUB LIMITED→
SC062663 · est 1977 · no financials extracted
————48y——
GLASGOW LUXURY TOURS LIMITED→
SC839088 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
GRACEWELL SPORTS LIMITED→
SC555714 · est 2017 · no financials extracted
————9y——
GREENOCK MORTON YOUTH ACADEMY LIMITED→
SC666728 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
————5y——
INFLATABLES INVERCLYDE LTD→
SC850855 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
INVERCLYDE LEISURE TRADING SERVICES LIMITED→
SC223431 · est 2001 · no financials extracted
————24y——
IOMAIRT CHILLE-CHOMAIN→
SC224167 · est 2001 · no financials extracted
————24y——
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
Incorporated2005-01-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC90030 — Artistic creation

Registered office

The Old Surgery
School Road
Tarbert
Argyll
PA29 6UL
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-30
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-16
Last: 2026-02-02

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

WILLIAM DUNCAN & CO→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2005-01-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RYAN, Frances Julia→
director · ~86y · appointed 2005-01-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SPENCER, Julia Laura→
director · ~56y · appointed 2021-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-01-25 · resigned 2005-01-26
Resigned
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-01-25 · resigned 2005-01-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (55 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-29
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-03-04
change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH04
2024-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-25
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2021-10-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-06
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-02-04