ALEXANDER MCCALL-SMITH LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC412685 · ltd · incorporated 2011-12-06
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
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Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£37.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 18129
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 78). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -37% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
35 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
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £37,127
Net assets shrinking
Down £19,909 YoY
Cash YoY
-37%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£39k
↓ 37% YoY
Net Worth
£37k
↓ 35% YoY
Current Assets
£42k
↓ 31% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£12k£24k£37k£49k£61kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£37.1k£57.0k
Current assets£42.0k£61.2k
Cash£38.7k£61.1k
Debtors£3.3k£104
Net assets£37.1k£57.0k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 signals 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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-11-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-12-21
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-02-09
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  14. 2015-02-05
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  15. 2015-02-05
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  16. 2012-12-06
    ➕
    MCCALL-SMITH, Alexander appointed
    secretary
  17. 2012-12-06
    ➖
    MCCALL-SMITH, Elizabeth Dorothy Anne, Dr resigned
    secretary
  18. 2011-12-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ALEXANDER MCCALL-SMITH LIMITED
  19. 2011-12-06
    ➕
    MCCALL-SMITH, Alexander, Dr appointed
    director
  20. 2011-12-06
    ➕
    MCCALL-SMITH, Elizabeth Dorothy Anne, Dr appointed
    director
  21. 2011-12-06
    ➕
    MCCALL-SMITH, Elizabeth Dorothy Anne, Dr appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

96/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "MCCALL-SMITH" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 70+: Senior director is approximately 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 14 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Dr Alexander Mccall-Smith
Individual · British · DOB 08/1948 · age 78
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Dr Elizabeth Dorothy Anne Mccall-Smith
Individual · British · DOB 05/1951 · age 75
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Incorporated2011-12-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC18129 — SIC 18129

Registered office

16 Napier Road
Edinburgh
EH10 5AY

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-20
Last: 2025-12-06

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

MCCALL-SMITH, Alexander→
secretary · appointed 2012-12-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCCALL-SMITH, Alexander, Dr→
director · ~78y · appointed 2011-12-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCCALL-SMITH, Elizabeth Dorothy Anne, Dr→
director · ~75y · appointed 2011-12-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCCALL-SMITH, Elizabeth Dorothy Anne, Dr→
secretary · appointed 2011-12-06 · resigned 2012-12-06
Resigned

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

Recent filings (35 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-12-18