WILD ISLAND EXPLORATION LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC093174 · ltd · incorporated 1985-05-07
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 Oct 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other accommodation
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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 (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
92 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
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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£0Oct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31
Average employees200200

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-10
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2024-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-09-12
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  5. 2023-05-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-05-01
    ➕
    JOHNSON-FERGUSON, Ninian appointed
    director
  7. 2022-05-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-07-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-05-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-05-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-01-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2018-01-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2017-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-01-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2013-12-04
    ➖
    JOHNSON-FERGUSON, Torquil resigned
    director
  18. 1985-05-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As WILD ISLAND EXPLORATION LIMITED

Owner dependency

81/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

36/100
Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — JOHNSON-FERGUSON, Ninian (same surname) appointed 2023-05-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 41 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Torquil Johnson-Ferguson
Individual · British · DOB 04/1949 · age 77
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Margaret Johnson-Ferguson
Individual · British · DOB 12/1946 · age 80
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1985-05-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC55900 — Other accommodation

Registered office

Solway Bank
Canonbie
Dumfriesshire
DG14 0XS

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-10
Last: 2025-10-27

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

JOHNSON-FERGUSON, Margaret→
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSON-FERGUSON, Margaret→
director · ~80y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSON-FERGUSON, Ninian→
director · ~43y · appointed 2023-05-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSON-FERGUSON, Torquil→
director · ~77y · resigned 2013-12-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (92 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-13
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-03
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-09-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-02