GRANITE CITY FISH LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC130588 · ltd · incorporated 1991-03-18

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

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 May 2025

Net worth

£277.9k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 10200

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). 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

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 34.8y

30/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 34.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (85/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)

Directors & officers

6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

88 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

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

Positive net assets

Net assets £277,898

Net assets shrinking

Down £49,109 YoY

Cash YoY

-3%

Year on year

Key financials

3 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£244k

↓ 2.9% YoY

Net Worth

£278k

↓ 15% YoY

Current Assets

£327k

↓ 14% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-05-31	2024-05-31	2023-05-31
Total assets	£287.4k	£342.5k	—
Current assets	£326.7k	£379.3k	—
Cash	£243.7k	£251.0k	—
Debtors	£81.0k	£126.3k	—
Net assets	£277.9k	£327.0k	—

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand

2026-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-02-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-02-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-04-23
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-02-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-03-31
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2009-11-26
➖
FLETCHER, Georgina Colbert resigned
director
2007-01-25
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2006-05-25
➕
ROUTLEDGE, Alma Mary appointed
secretary
2006-05-25
➖
GRAY & CONNOCHIE resigned
corporate-secretary
2005-11-10
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
1991-08-14
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1991-03-18
🏢
Company incorporated
As GRANITE CITY FISH LIMITED
1991-03-18
➕
FLETCHER, Edward Arthur appointed
director
1991-03-18
➕
MABBOTT, Lesley appointed
nominee-secretary
1991-03-18
➖
MABBOTT, Lesley resigned
nominee-secretary
1991-03-18
➕
GRAY & CONNOCHIE appointed
corporate-secretary
1991-03-18
➕
FLETCHER, Georgina Colbert appointed
director
1991-03-18
➕
MABBOTT, Stephen appointed
nominee-director
1991-03-18
➖
MABBOTT, Stephen resigned
nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100

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

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 35 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 35 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 35 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

clean

No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Edward Arthur Fletcher Individual · British · DOB 09/1960 · age 66	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

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EAST COAST VINERS GRAIN (DRUMLITHIE) LIMITED→ SC465482 · est 2013	£10.04M £7.40M–£12.68M	£55.24M	—	6600	12y	95	79y
MACKIE'S LIMITED→ SC030096 · est 1954	£8.51M £6.27M–£10.75M	—	—	115	72y	84	62y
STRATHCLYDE NUTRITION LTD.→ SC198829 · est 1999	£5.68M £4.18M–£7.17M	—	—	1	26y	80	55y
WILLIAM GRANT & SONS LIMITED→ SC131772 · est 1991 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	35y	83	67y
COLIN FRASER LIMITED→ SC236839 · est 2002	—	—	£690.5k	—	23y	82	65y
GT SEAFOODS LIMITED→ SC241817 · est 2003	—	—	£2.21M	—	23y	82	62y
HOME BAKERY (BUCKIE) LIMITED→ SC104797 · est 1987	—	—	—	2600	39y	82	75y
J H MILNE (PETERHEAD) LIMITED→ SC181790 · est 1997	—	—	£798.7k	—	28y	82	75y
J.G. ROSS (BAKERS) LIMITED→ SC062889 · est 1977	—	—	£3.22M	—	48y	82	64y
M GEDDES LTD.→ SC277504 · est 2004	—	—	£176.6k	—	21y	82	63y

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

Incorporated1991-03-18

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC10200 — SIC 10200

Registered office

74 Deemount Gardens

Aberdeen

Aberdeenshire

AB11 7UE

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-01

Last: 2026-03-18

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

ROUTLEDGE, Alma Mary→

secretary · appointed 2006-05-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FLETCHER, Edward Arthur→

director · ~66y · appointed 1991-03-18

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MABBOTT, Lesley→

nominee-secretary · appointed 1991-03-18 · resigned 1991-03-18

Resigned

GRAY & CONNOCHIE→

corporate-secretary · appointed 1991-03-18 · resigned 2006-05-25

Resigned

FLETCHER, Georgina Colbert→

director · ~99y · appointed 1991-03-18 · resigned 2009-11-26

Resigned

MABBOTT, Stephen→

nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1991-03-18 · resigned 1991-03-18

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company	Floating charge	1 property	10/11/2005	—
	satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Floating charge	1 property	14/08/1991	25/01/2007

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