FORSHAW ENGINEERING LTD

💤Zombieactive
04860113 · ltd · incorporated 2003-08-07
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Oct 2025
Net worth
£123.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 7.4y

30/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 7.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (1 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
77 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £123,617

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£124k
↑ 397% YoY
Current Assets
£250k
↑ 56% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£50k£100k£150k£200k£250kOct 2024Oct 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-10-312024-10-31
Total assets£128.7k£26.9k
Current assets£249.8k£160.3k
Net assets£123.6k£24.8k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (33 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-01-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2024-11-28
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  5. 2024-11-28
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  6. 2024-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-08-01
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  9. 2022-08-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company
  10. 2022-03-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-07-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-08-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-01-24
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  15. 2019-01-14
    ➖
    FORSHAW, Steven Robert resigned
    director
  16. 2019-01-07
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  17. 2019-01-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  18. 2018-07-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2017-08-31
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  20. 2017-08-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  21. 2017-08-21
    ➕
    GAWTHORPE, Robert John appointed
    director
  22. 2017-08-21
    ➖
    FORSHAW, Pauline resigned
    secretary
  23. 2017-08-21
    ➖
    FORSHAW, Pauline resigned
    director
  24. 2017-08-21
    ➖
    FORSHAW, Robert Adrian resigned
    director
  25. 2003-08-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FORSHAW ENGINEERING LTD
  26. 2003-08-07
    ➕
    FORSHAW, Pauline appointed
    secretary
  27. 2003-08-07
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 2003-08-07
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  29. 2003-08-07
    ➕
    FORSHAW, Pauline appointed
    director
  30. 2003-08-07
    ➕
    FORSHAW, Robert Adrian appointed
    director
  31. 2003-08-07
    ➕
    FORSHAW, Steven Robert appointed
    director
  32. 2003-08-07
    ➕
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  33. 2003-08-07
    ➖
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
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.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Group structure

Able Lorry Loaders Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Able Lorry Loaders Holdings Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
⬇
FORSHAW ENGINEERING LTD
This company · 04860113

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Able Lorry Loaders Holdings Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control21/08/2017
3 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mrs Pauline Forshawceased 21/08/2017· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • Mr Robert Adrian Forshawceased 21/08/2017· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • Mr Steven Robert Forshawceased 21/08/2017· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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 →

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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
Incorporated2003-08-07
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Charter House
33 Greek Street
Stockport
Cheshire
SK3 8AX
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-21
Last: 2025-08-07

Officers (1 active · 6 resigned)

GAWTHORPE, Robert John→
director · ~63y · appointed 2017-08-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORSHAW, Pauline→
secretary · appointed 2003-08-07 · resigned 2017-08-21
Resigned
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-08-07 · resigned 2003-08-07
Resigned
FORSHAW, Pauline→
director · ~78y · appointed 2003-08-07 · resigned 2017-08-21
Resigned
FORSHAW, Robert Adrian→
director · ~76y · appointed 2003-08-07 · resigned 2017-08-21
Resigned
FORSHAW, Steven Robert→
director · ~49y · appointed 2003-08-07 · resigned 2019-01-14
Resigned
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-08-07 · resigned 2003-08-07
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank Public Company
National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company
A registered charge—01/08/2022—
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
A registered charge—03/01/2019—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (77 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-05-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-01-16
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2024-11-28
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2024-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-08
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2022-08-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-08