BARS AND BISTROS AT NO 18 LTD

🌳Matureactive

SC378884 · ltd · incorporated 2010-05-20

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

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Licenced restaurants

Sector: Accommodation & food service

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

56103Take-away food shops and mobile food stands
56302Public houses and bars

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

6 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 12.9y

35/100

too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

· Oldest live charge is 12.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
· Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (57/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

6 charges (6/6 with lender, 6/6 with type)

Directors & officers

3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

52 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand

2026-03-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-28
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-11
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-02-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-04-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-07-28
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2017-07-21
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mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2017-07-21
🔓
Charge satisfied #4
2017-07-18
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mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2017-07-18
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mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2017-07-18
🔒
Charge registered #6
Lender: Svenska Handelsbanken Ab (Publ)
2017-07-18
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
2017-07-10
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Charge registered #5
Lender: Svenska Handelsbanken Ab (Publ)
2017-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-07-11
🔓
Charge satisfied #3
2015-07-03
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Charge satisfied #1
2013-05-31
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Charge registered #4
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2013-05-30
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Charge registered #3
Lender: Heineken UK Limited
2013-05-28
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Charge registered #2
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2013-05-17
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Charge registered #1
Lender: Heineken UK Limited
2012-05-20
➕
BROWNE, Penny appointed
director
2010-05-20
🏢
Company incorporated
As BARS AND BISTROS AT NO 18 LTD
2010-05-20
➕
BROWNE, Penny appointed
secretary
2010-05-20
➕
FAGAN, Kieran Thomas 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 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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

1 med ·

Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern

medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Miss Penny Browne Individual · British · DOB 04/1968 · age 58	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	20/05/2017
Mr Kieran Thomas Fagan Individual · British · DOB 08/1963 · age 63	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	20/05/2017

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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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

Incorporated2010-05-20

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC56101 — Licenced restaurants

Registered office

18 Dundas Home Farm

South Queensferry

EH30 9SS

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-08-31

Last made up to: 2025-11-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-07-12

Last: 2025-06-28

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

BROWNE, Penny→

secretary · appointed 2010-05-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BROWNE, Penny→

director · ~58y · appointed 2012-05-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FAGAN, Kieran Thomas→

director · ~63y · appointed 2010-05-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:6 of 6 shown

		Type	Properties
outstanding	Svenska Handelsbanken Ab (Publ)	A registered charge	1 property	18/07/2017	—
outstanding	Svenska Handelsbanken Ab (Publ)	A registered charge	—	10/07/2017	—
satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	1 property	31/05/2013	21/07/2017
satisfied	Heineken UK Heineken UK Limited	A registered charge	1 property	30/05/2013	11/07/2015
satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	1 property	28/05/2013	18/07/2017
satisfied	Heineken UK Heineken UK Limited	A registered charge	1 property	17/05/2013	03/07/2015

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