GRAY FABRICATION LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC074779 · ltd · incorporated 1981-05-11
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
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 25990
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 57/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 79). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 4 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

8 live charges · 4 lenders · oldest 42.5y

35/100
too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

  • · Oldest live charge is 42.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 4 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Legal-friction score 35/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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
8 charges (8/8 with lender, 8/8 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (4 active, 7 linked, 6 with DOB)
87
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
129 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
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 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
Average employees373800

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (36 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-17
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-07-17
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2024-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-05-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2022-05-09
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2022-05-04
    ➕
    SHAW, Matthew appointed
    director
  10. 2021-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-09-16
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  13. 2020-09-16
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  14. 2020-09-16
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2020-09-16
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  16. 2020-09-16
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  17. 2020-09-16
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  18. 2020-09-10
    ➖
    CARSWELL, John Findlay resigned
    secretary
  19. 2020-09-10
    ➖
    CARSWELL, John Findlay resigned
    director
  20. 2020-09-09
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  21. 2020-07-24
    ➕
    CARSWELL, Elizabeth Georgina appointed
    director
  22. 2019-06-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  23. 2015-09-10
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #6
  24. 2012-09-12
    ➖
    MUDIE, James resigned
    director
  25. 2008-03-31
    🔒
    Charge registered #8
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  26. 2002-09-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  27. 1995-06-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #7
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  28. 1993-12-15
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #4
  29. 1993-11-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  30. 1993-11-16
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  31. 1993-11-10
    🔒
    Charge registered #6
    Lender: The Fife Regional Council
  32. 1993-10-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: The Fife Regional Council
  33. 1993-09-29
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: The Fife Regional Council
  34. 1989-10-10
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  35. 1983-10-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  36. 1981-05-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As GRAY FABRICATION LIMITED

Owner dependency

63/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 45 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 med ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

3 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Elizabeth Georgina Carswell
Individual · British · DOB 12/1948 · age 78
25–50%
—25-50% shares10/09/2020
Mr David Frank Carswell
Individual · British · DOB 08/1947 · age 79
25–50%
—25-50% shares10/09/2020
Mr Thomas Carswell
Individual · British · DOB 07/1949 · age 77
25–50%
—25-50% shares10/09/2020
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr John Findlay Carswellceased 10/09/2020· 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 →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated1981-05-11
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC25990 — SIC 25990

Registered office

Gray Fabrication Ltd
Cupar Trading Estate
Cupar
Fife
KY15 4SX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-16
Last: 2025-10-02

Officers (4 active · 3 resigned)

CARSWELL, David Frank→
director · ~79y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CARSWELL, Elizabeth Georgina→
director · ~78y · appointed 2020-07-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CARSWELL, Thomas→
director · ~77y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHAW, Matthew→
director · ~58y · appointed 2022-05-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CARSWELL, John Findlay→
secretary · resigned 2020-09-10
Resigned
CARSWELL, John Findlay→
director · ~84y · resigned 2020-09-10
Resigned
MUDIE, James→
director · ~92y · resigned 2012-09-12
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

8
Total charges
4
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:8 of 8 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
Standard security2 properties31/03/2008—
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Standard security1 property12/06/1995—
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Standard security2 properties17/11/1993—
satisfied
The Fife Regional Council
Standard security2 properties10/11/199310/09/2015
satisfied
The Fife Regional Council
Standard security2 properties27/10/199315/12/1993
satisfied
The Fife Regional Council
Floating charge1 property29/09/199306/09/2002
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Floating charge1 property10/10/1989—
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property12/10/198316/11/1993
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (129 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-06
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-07-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-06
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-05-16
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-04