FIRTH VETERINARY CENTRE LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC461618 · ltd · incorporated 2013-10-16
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 7.4y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Nov 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Veterinary activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 66). 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 7.4y
70/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 7.4 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
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
46 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
75
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 | 2024-11-30 | 2023-11-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 1600 | 1500 |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 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
1
filing
- • 1 capital
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 capital
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 capital
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-01📄capital-alter-shares-subdivisioncapital · SH02
- 2025-08-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-11-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-11-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-11-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-11-13📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2024-11-13📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-08-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-26📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-06-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-30📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2021-09-30📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2021-09-21📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2021-09-17➕BEATTIE, Hannah appointeddirector
- 2021-09-09🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2021-02-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-12-30📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2020-12-30🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2020-07-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-11-03📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2019-09-01➕ARMSTRONG, Heather appointeddirector
- 2018-12-04➖BAXTER, Gerald Anthony resigneddirector
- 2018-11-26🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2013-10-16🏢Company incorporatedAs FIRTH VETERINARY CENTRE LIMITED
- 2013-10-16➕ARMSTRONG, Paul appointeddirector
- 2013-10-16➕BAXTER, Gerald Anthony appointeddirector
Owner dependency
73/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
63/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- 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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Heather Armstrong Individual · British · DOB 01/1961 · age 65 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/09/2019 |
Mr Paul Armstrong Individual · British · DOB 09/1960 · age 66 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/10/2016 |
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
- Miss Hannah Beattieceased 01/12/2020· significant influence
- Mr Gerald Anthony Baxterceased 04/12/2018· 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.
See pricing →Similar companies
Active · Professional services · DG postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAVIDSON THORBURN CONSULTING LIMITED→ SC334834 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| DEVORGILLA PROJECTS LIMITED→ SC692965 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| EASY READ FOR YOU CIC→ SC764647 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| EXSAR CONSULTING LIMITED→ SC246463 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| G HENDERSON ENGINEERING LTD→ SC849448 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| GALLOWAY VETS LIMITED→ SC537595 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| GAVIN BELL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC606727 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| GEOMACSTRACKS LIMITED→ SC626635 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| GF1 INVESTMENTS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED→ SC595513 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| GF2 INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC638842 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| GM MARINE LIMITED→ SC384029 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| GO INNOVATE LIMITED→ SC661430 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2013-10-16
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC75000 — Veterinary activities
Registered office
3-5 Ednam Street
Annan
DG12 6EF
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-06
Last: 2025-10-23
Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)
ARMSTRONG, Heather→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2019-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ARMSTRONG, Paul→
Activedirector · ~66y · appointed 2013-10-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BEATTIE, Hannah→
Activedirector · ~35y · appointed 2021-09-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BAXTER, Gerald Anthony→
Resigneddirector · ~67y · appointed 2013-10-16 · resigned 2018-12-04
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC | A registered charge | — | 09/09/2021 | — | |
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | A registered charge | — | 26/11/2018 | 30/12/2020 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (46 total)
capital-alter-shares-subdivision
capital · SH02
2026-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-11-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-11-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-11-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-11-14
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-11-13
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-11-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-21
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-09-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-20