BILLY COWE (COMMERCIALS) LTD
🌳Matureactive
SC447508 · ltd · incorporated 2013-04-12
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 12.8y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 12.8y
85/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 12.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (77/100)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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
32 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-05-31 | 2024-05-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 6 | 500 |
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
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 officers
Last 90 days
3
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 officers
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 officers
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-08📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2026-02-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2026-02-20➕COWE, Paul James Alexander appointeddirector
- 2025-02-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-01-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-04-10📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2017-04-10📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2017-02-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-04-18📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2016-01-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2013-07-08🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2013-04-12🏢Company incorporatedAs BILLY COWE (COMMERCIALS) LTD
- 2013-04-12➕COWE, Gloria Anne appointedsecretary
- 2013-04-12➕COWE, William David appointeddirector
Owner dependency
96/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 "COWE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
39/100
Weak signalLimited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.
SIGNALS
- primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — COWE, Paul James Alexander (same surname) appointed 2026-02-20. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 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 13 years.
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanNo 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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr William David Cowe Individual · British · DOB 04/1954 · age 72 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Automotive · TD postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A P MECHANICAL SPARES LTD→ SC869959 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADAM PURVES GALASHIELS LIMITED→ SC194613 · est 1999 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 27y | — | — |
| ALLIED TRUCK & TRAILER COMPONENTS LIMITED→ SC818724 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| B.H.P. (NORHAM) LIMITED→ 04459674 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| BANKHEAD MOT AND REPAIR CENTRE LIMITED→ 14788792 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BONJEDWARD GARAGE LTD→ SC877995 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BORDER AUTOCARE & TYRE SERVICES LIMITED→ SC217592 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| C & R TYRES LIMITED→ SC159954 · est 1995 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 30y | — | — |
| CARPARTS 4U LIMITED→ SC135254 · est 1991 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 34y | — | — |
| CARRICKS (BORDERS) LIMITED→ SC403619 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| CARTEC VEHICLE MAINTENANCE LTD→ SC575612 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| CESSFORD MOTORS LIMITED→ SC250202 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2013-04-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200
Registered office
Tower Farm
Cockburnspath
Berwickshire
TD13 5YU
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-26
Last: 2026-04-12
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
COWE, Paul James Alexander→
Activedirector · ~50y · appointed 2026-02-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
COWE, William David→
Activedirector · ~72y · appointed 2013-04-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 08/07/2013 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (32 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-13
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-04-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-02-11