A FINE LINE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05204081 · ltd · incorporated 2004-08-12
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
£5.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Painting
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (75/100)

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 (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
53 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
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 £5,707
Cash YoY
+179%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£17k
↑ 179% YoY
Net Worth
£6k
↑ 398% YoY
Current Assets
£18k
↑ 164% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£4k£7k£11k£14k£18kAug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Total assets£18.6k£21.0k
Current assets£17.9k£6.8k
Cash£17.2k£6.2k
Debtors£665£599
Net assets£5.7k£1.1k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2026-02-12
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-05-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-05-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-09-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-09-11
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  15. 2015-09-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2015-05-01
    ➕
    PINKERTON, John appointed
    secretary
  17. 2015-05-01
    ➖
    ASHDRIVE LTD resigned
    corporate-secretary
  18. 2013-08-12
    ➖
    SETHI, Harinder Singh resigned
    secretary
  19. 2013-08-12
    ➕
    ASHDRIVE LTD appointed
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2004-08-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A FINE LINE LIMITED
  21. 2004-08-12
    ➕
    PINKERTON, John Anthony appointed
    director
  22. 2004-08-12
    ➕
    SETHI, Harinder Singh appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

85/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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

clean
No 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Anthony Pinkerton
Individual · British · DOB 01/1969 · age 57
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2004-08-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43341 — Painting

Registered office

79 Mayals Avenue
Blackpill
Swansea
SA3 5DD

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-26
Last: 2025-08-12

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

PINKERTON, John→
secretary · appointed 2015-05-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PINKERTON, John Anthony→
director · ~57y · appointed 2004-08-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SETHI, Harinder Singh→
secretary · appointed 2004-08-12 · resigned 2013-08-12
Resigned
ASHDRIVE LTD→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2013-08-12 · resigned 2015-05-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (53 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-05-01
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-02-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-22