GOW'S LYBSTER LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC312889 · ltd · incorporated 2006-12-01
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 19.2y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Feb 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (63/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · oldest 19.2y

65/100
clean up first

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 19.2 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 (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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 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
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
65
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
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
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Feb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-02-282024-02-29
Average employees22002000

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
  1. 2025-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-09-08
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2024-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-10-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-10-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-09-15
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  11. 2017-09-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  12. 2017-08-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-01-22
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2007-07-31
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  17. 2007-07-05
    ➕
    GOW, Alexandra Henderson appointed
    secretary
  18. 2007-07-05
    ➕
    GOW, Alexandra Henderson appointed
    director
  19. 2007-07-05
    ➖
    GOW, Alexandra resigned
    secretary
  20. 2007-02-14
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  21. 2006-12-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As GOW'S LYBSTER LIMITED
  22. 2006-12-01
    ➕
    ROBERTSON, William Bracken appointed
    director
  23. 2006-12-01
    ➕
    GOW, Alexandra appointed
    secretary
  24. 2006-12-01
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2006-12-01
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2006-12-01
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  27. 2006-12-01
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

68/100
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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

59/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ms Alexandra Henderson Gow
Individual · British · DOB 08/1971 · age 55
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mr William Bracken Robertson
Individual · British · DOB 12/1970 · age 56
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated2006-12-01
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Scaraben House
Hillhead
Lybster
Caithness
KW3 6AS

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-18
Last: 2025-12-04

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

GOW, Alexandra Henderson→
secretary · appointed 2007-07-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GOW, Alexandra Henderson→
director · ~55y · appointed 2007-07-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ROBERTSON, William Bracken→
director · ~56y · appointed 2006-12-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GOW, Alexandra→
secretary · appointed 2006-12-01 · resigned 2007-07-05
Resigned
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2006-12-01 · resigned 2006-12-01
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-12-01 · resigned 2006-12-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

3
Total charges
3
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge1 property11/09/2017—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property31/07/2007—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property14/02/2007—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (55 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-09-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-04