LINKS LICENSED GROCERS LTD.

🌳Matureactive

SC327527 · ltd · incorporated 2007-07-10

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 18.5y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Oct 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), 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. 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

1 live charge · oldest 18.5y

65/100

clean up first

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

· Oldest live charge is 18.5 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 (79/100)

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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

7 officers (4 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

62 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	2025-10-31	2024-10-31
Average employees	1200	1200

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand

2026-04-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-27
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-09-27
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-09-27
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2023-04-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-12
➖
IQBAL, Aishah Farhana resigned
director
2022-09-12
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-07-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-26
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-04-12
➕
IQBAL, Aishah Farhana appointed
director
2020-07-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-01-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-07-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-07-11
➕
IQBAL, Mohammed Faraz appointed
director
2007-11-23
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2007-07-10
🏢
Company incorporated
As LINKS LICENSED GROCERS LTD.
2007-07-10
➕
IQBAL, Shamim appointed
secretary
2007-07-10
➕
IQBAL, Mohammed Javed appointed
director
2007-07-10
➕
IQBAL, Shamim appointed
director
2007-07-10
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-secretary
2007-07-10
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-secretary
2007-07-10
➕
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
corporate-director
2007-07-10
➖
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
corporate-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

+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 19 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

73/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
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

3 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Mohammed Faraz Iqbal Individual · British · DOB 10/1991 · age 35	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	11/07/2016
Mrs Shamim Iqbal Individual · British · DOB 04/1963 · age 63	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016
Mr Javed Iqbal Individual · British · DOB 02/1965 · age 61	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016

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 · Retail · KY postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
GUYANA LIMITED→ SC216279 · est 2001	—	—	—	1600	25y	83	64y
JOHN & J H SANDS LIMITED→ SC056427 · est 1974	—	—	—	800	51y	83	68y
MICROSCOPY SUPPLIES & CONSULTANTS LIMITED→ SC139542 · est 1992	—	—	—	300	33y	83	79y
ANDREW HUTT LIMITED→ SC056671 · est 1974	—	—	—	100	51y	82	93y
BACCHUS (ST ANDREWS) LTD.→ SC251347 · est 2003	—	—	£227.9k	—	22y	82	66y
BOB MILLAR LIMITED→ SC168787 · est 1996	—	—	£2.61M	—	29y	82	59y
BRINNOR LIMITED→ SC353301 · est 2009	—	—	—	1100	17y	82	62y
CLASSIQUE FLOORING LIMITED→ SC144130 · est 1993	—	—	£611.3k	—	33y	82	71y
DEALS ON REELS LIMITED→ SC237443 · est 2002	—	—	£9.6k	—	23y	82	65y
DUNFERMLINE REPAIR CENTRE LTD.→ SC169402 · est 1996	—	—	£18.3k	—	29y	82	65y
GARDENS MOWERS AND TOOLS LIMITED→ SC348112 · est 2008	—	—	£374.1k	—	17y	82	69y
HMR STORES LTD.→ SC338232 · est 2008	—	—	£19.5k	—	18y	82	78y

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

Incorporated2007-07-10

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC47110 — Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating

Registered office

221 Links Street

Kirkcaldy

Fife

KY1 1QS

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-07-31

Last made up to: 2025-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-09

Last: 2026-04-25

Officers (4 active · 3 resigned)

IQBAL, Shamim→

secretary · appointed 2007-07-10

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

IQBAL, Mohammed Faraz→

director · ~35y · appointed 2016-07-11

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

IQBAL, Mohammed Javed→

director · ~61y · appointed 2007-07-10

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

IQBAL, Shamim→

director · ~63y · appointed 2007-07-10

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-07-10 · resigned 2007-07-10

Resigned

IQBAL, Aishah Farhana→

director · ~36y · appointed 2021-04-12 · resigned 2022-09-12

Resigned

STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→

corporate-director · appointed 2007-07-10 · resigned 2007-07-10

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	23/11/2007	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (62 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-04-30

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-04-08

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-07-30

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-04-25

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-05-20

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-04-26

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2023-09-27

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2023-09-27

change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date

officers · CH03

2023-09-27

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-05-04

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-04-06

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2022-09-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-07-26

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-05-11

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2021-06-16