FORTH AREA MARINE ELECTRONICS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC095552 · ltd · incorporated 1985-10-16
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 47640
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 47789Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 40.4y
45/100
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.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
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, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
93 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | -200 | -200 |
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 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-02-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-02-14📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2018-09-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-02-15📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-09-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-03-03📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-09-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 1996-03-07➕CAMPBELL, Brian Scott appointedsecretary
- 1996-03-07➖CAMPBELL, Evelyn resignedsecretary
- 1996-03-07➖CAMPBELL, Evelyn resigneddirector
- 1995-02-14➖CAMPBELL, Moray James resigneddirector
- 1990-01-01➕CAMPBELL, Alistair Stewart appointeddirector
- 1985-12-02🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
- 1985-10-16🏢Company incorporatedAs FORTH AREA MARINE ELECTRONICS LIMITED
Owner dependency
93/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 36 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
85/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 36 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 41 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
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Secretary Brian Scott Campbell Individual · British · DOB 05/1969 · age 57 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 14/02/2019 |
Mr Alistair Stewart Campbell Individual · British · DOB 12/1966 · age 60 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 14/02/2017 |
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
Incorporated1985-10-16
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47640 — SIC 47640
Registered office
Port Edgar
Shore Road
South Queensferry
Edinburgh
EH30 9SQ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last: 2026-02-14
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
CAMPBELL, Brian Scott→
Activesecretary · appointed 1996-03-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CAMPBELL, Alistair Stewart→
Activedirector · ~60y · appointed 1990-01-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CAMPBELL, Evelyn→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 1996-03-07
CAMPBELL, Evelyn→
Resigneddirector · ~79y · resigned 1996-03-07
CAMPBELL, Moray James→
Resigneddirector · ~81y · resigned 1995-02-14
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company | Floating charge | 1 property | 02/12/1985 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (93 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-27
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2019-02-14