J & G FORBES & CO (BOATBUILDERS) LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC106823 · ltd · incorporated 1987-09-24
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 38.1y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£164.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 30110
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 68). 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
3 live charges · oldest 38.1y
65/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 38.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 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
111 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Positive net assets
Net assets £164,269
Net assets shrinking
Down £15,615 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£164k
↓ 8.7% YoY
Current Assets
£141k
↓ 1.3% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £164.3k | £179.9k |
| Current assets | £141.2k | £143.0k |
| Net assets | £164.3k | £179.9k |
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 (27 events)Click to expand
- 2025-04-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-23➖MACRAE STEPHEN & CO resignedcorporate-secretary
- 2021-09-23📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2021-09-23📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2021-04-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-05-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-25📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-07-25📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2019-05-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-07-11📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2017-04-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-06-22📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2016-05-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-06🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2016-05-06🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2004-03-05➕FORBES, Roderick John appointeddirector
- 2002-10-09➖FORBES, Roderick Russell resigneddirector
- 1995-02-13➕MACRAE STEPHEN & CO appointedcorporate-secretary
- 1995-02-13➖MASSON & GLENNIE resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1990-02-23🔒Charge registered #3Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
- 1988-05-24🔒Charge registered #2Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
- 1988-03-16🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
- 1987-09-24🏢Company incorporatedAs J & G FORBES & CO (BOATBUILDERS) LIMITED
Owner dependency
100/100
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
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "FORBES" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 39 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
mediumMultiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Roderick Robbie Forbes Individual · British · DOB 08/1958 · age 68 | 50–75% | — | 50-75% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Roderick John Forbes Individual · British · DOB 08/1958 · age 68 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 07/06/2019 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JSG PROJECTS SCOTLAND LTD→ SC678671 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| JZ.NDT INSPECTION LTD→ SC617556 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| K C EMSLIE LIMITED→ SC738585 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| K.D. MARINE LIMITED→ SC111817 · est 1988 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 37y | — | — |
| K.G.B RIGGING & LIFTING SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ SC742400 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| KAM ROPES LTD→ SC854644 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| KEITH MITCHELL LIFTING LIMITED→ SC718585 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| KEITH ROSE ENGINEERING LTD.→ SC337330 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| KENZFIGEE LIMITED→ SC635534 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| KILRYMONT GEOSCIENCE LIMITED→ SC278627 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| KIMBERLEY SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ SC282877 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| KINCARDINE MANUFACTURING SERVICES LIMITED→ SC226460 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1987-09-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC30110 — SIC 30110
Registered office
44 Pitsligo Street
Rosehearty
Fraserburgh
Aberdeenshire
AB43 7JL
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-04
Last: 2025-06-20
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
FORBES, Roderick John→
Activedirector · ~42y · appointed 2004-03-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACRAE STEPHEN & CO→
Resignedcorporate-secretary · appointed 1995-02-13 · resigned 2021-09-23
MASSON & GLENNIE→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · resigned 1995-02-13
FORBES, Roderick Russell→
Resigneddirector · ~94y · resigned 2002-10-09
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
3
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland | Standard security | 1 property | 23/02/1990 | — | |
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland | Bond & floating charge | 1 property | 24/05/1988 | 06/05/2016 | |
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland | Bond & floating charge | 1 property | 16/03/1988 | 06/05/2016 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (111 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-17
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2021-09-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-05-20
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-07-25