A.J.B. SCHOLES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC341021 · ltd · incorporated 2008-04-08

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 17.7y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jul 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Accounting and auditing activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

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

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 17.7y

70/100

ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

· Oldest live charge is 17.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
· Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 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

7 officers (6 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

4 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

58 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	2025-07-31	2024-07-31
Average employees	40	3800

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

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts
• 1 officers

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand

2026-04-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-02
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-02-27
➕
PATRICK, Scott appointed
director
2025-11-28
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-11-28
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-11-01
➕
TIPPER, Kayleigh Louise appointed
director
2025-10-09
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2025-10-09
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-04-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-02
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-08-01
➕
ALLAN, Ryan appointed
director
2021-04-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-06
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2020-10-06
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2020-04-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-20
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2020-01-15
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2018-10-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2008-08-04
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2008-07-14
➕
SCHOLES, Karen appointed
secretary
2008-07-14
➕
HOUSTON, Ivan Roman Charles appointed
director
2008-07-14
➖
BROWN, Kenneth William resigned
secretary
2008-04-08
🏢
Company incorporated
As A.J.B. SCHOLES LIMITED
2008-04-08
➕
SCHOLES, Karen appointed
director
2008-04-08
➕
BROWN, Kenneth William appointed
secretary

Owner dependency

73/100

High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS

-5 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "SCHOLES" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

63/100

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 18 years.
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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Ivan Roman Charles Houston Individual · British · DOB 05/1974 · age 52	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mrs Karen Scholesceased 01/11/2025· 25-50% shares

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.

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Similar companies

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EMPLOYABILITY ORKNEY→ SC292811 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
FORA ENERGY LTD→ SC866773 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
GDF ENVIRO LTD→ SC721512 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
GESINC LTD→ SC598957 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
GOW'S ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED→ SC488894 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
GRAMPIAN HIGHLAND RESOURCES LIMITED→ SC277855 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
GRIEVE ASSOCIATES LTD→ SC759588 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
HARPER CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD→ SC872667 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2008-04-08

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC69201 — Accounting and auditing activities

Registered office

8 Albert Street

Kirkwall

KW15 1HP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-04-30

Last made up to: 2025-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-22

Last: 2026-04-08