K.F.T. LTD.

🌳Matureactive

SC086706 · ltd · incorporated 1984-02-15

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Stable recent picture — watch for any upcoming trigger event.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Dec 2024

Net worth

£-22.8k

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 17290

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

18129SIC 18129
47190Other retail sale in non-specialised stores
56101Licenced restaurants

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 82). 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

4 live charges · 4 lenders · oldest 40.4y

15/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 40.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· 4 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
· Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 4 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)

Directors & officers

5 officers (4 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

101 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £22,814

Cash draining

Cash down 58% YoY

Cash YoY

-58%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£4k

↓ 58% YoY

Net Worth

-£23k

↓ 106% YoY

Current Assets

£29k

↓ 32% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£27.5k	£44.2k
Current assets	£29.0k	£42.4k
Cash	£3.9k	£9.3k
Debtors	£387	£8.0k
Net assets	£-22.8k	£-11.1k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand

2026-01-14
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-01-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-09-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-01-15
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-01-09
🔒
Charge registered #4
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2013-09-24
➕
SWINBANKS, Helen Laurenca appointed
director
2000-08-25
➕
SWINBANKS, Christine Eleanor appointed
director
2000-03-31
➖
SWINBANKS, Duncan John resigned
director
1999-06-15
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
1999-01-19
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1994-06-20
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
1990-05-03
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
1986-02-07
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Highlands and Islands Development Board
1984-02-15
🏢
Company incorporated
As K.F.T. LTD.

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

+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 82 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 82 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 42 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

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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Brian James Swinbanks Individual · British · DOB 06/1944 · age 82	25–50%	25–50%	board controlsig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest	01/11/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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SMITH & MCLAURIN LIMITED→ SC229817 · est 2002	£3.37M £2.62M–£4.12M	—	—	7500	24y	85	68y
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DAVID SMITH (FABRICATORS) LIMITED→ SC056938 · est 1975	—	—	£184.3k	—	51y	83	58y
JGB STEELCRAFT (U.K.) LIMITED→ SC130494 · est 1991	—	—	£673.3k	—	35y	83	60y
MCKINLAY & BLAIR LIMITED→ SC052147 · est 1973 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	53y	83	68y
STRATHBOND LIMITED→ SC044198 · est 1967	—	—	£511.8k	—	59y	83	63y
A MCPHERSON (BLACKSMITHS) LIMITED→ SC089569 · est 1984	—	—	£27.4k	—	41y	82	87y
ALBA TYRE MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ SC272387 · est 2004	—	—	£179.9k	—	21y	82	62y
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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

Incorporated1984-02-15

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC17290 — SIC 17290

Registered office

Unit 1 Baliscate

Tobermory

Argyll

PA75 6QA

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-13

Last: 2025-12-30

Officers (4 active · 1 resigned)

SWINBANKS, Brian James→

secretary

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SWINBANKS, Brian James→

director · ~82y

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SWINBANKS, Christine Eleanor→

director · ~80y · appointed 2000-08-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SWINBANKS, Helen Laurenca→

director · ~50y · appointed 2013-09-24

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SWINBANKS, Duncan John→

director · ~74y · resigned 2000-03-31

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown

		Type	Properties
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	1 property	09/01/2014	—
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Floating charge	1 property	19/01/1999	—
satisfied	Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company	Floating charge	1 property	03/05/1990	15/06/1999
satisfied	Highlands and Islands Development Board	Instrument of charge	1 property	07/02/1986	20/06/1994

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (101 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-01-14

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-01-14