J. DOUGLAS FOWLIE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC157213 · ltd · incorporated 1995-04-06

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

£2.36M

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

2 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

80 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £2,358,374

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£2.4m

↑ 4.0% YoY

Current Assets

£99

~ YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£2.36M	£2.27M
Current assets	£99	£99
Net assets	£2.36M	£2.27M

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 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2025-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-04-21
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2017-04-21
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2016-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-27
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-30
📄
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
1995-04-11
➕
FOWLIE, Nicola Ann appointed
secretary
1995-04-11
➕
FOWLIE, John Douglas appointed
director
1995-04-11
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1995-04-11
➖
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
1995-04-06
🏢
Company incorporated
As J. DOUGLAS FOWLIE LIMITED
1995-04-06
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1995-04-06
➕
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED appointed
corporate-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.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "FOWLIE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 31 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 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 31 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John Douglas Fowlie Individual · British · DOB 08/1960 · age 66	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	07/04/2016

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

Active · Agriculture · AB postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
JWFB LIMITED→ SC312553 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	—	—
K C R C LIMITED→ SC265823 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
KINERMONY LIMITED→ SC024445 · est 1946 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	79y	—	—
M V SILVER FERN LTD.→ SC239465 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
MB BOBENA LIMITED→ SC282138 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
MB3 ESTATES LIMITED→ SC607592 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
MDC TREE SURGERY LTD→ SC699454 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
MEARNS TRACTORS LIMITED→ SC261246 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
MITCHELL'S OF MILLHILL LTD→ SC857642 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
MKK FISHING LTD→ SC785151 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
MORRICEBELL LTD→ SC880244 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
MORVEN ENTERPRISES LTD.→ SC321035 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	—	—

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

Incorporated1995-04-06

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

28 Broad Street

Peterhead

Aberdeenshire

AB42 1BY

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-20

Last: 2026-04-06

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

FOWLIE, Nicola Ann→

secretary · appointed 1995-04-11

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FOWLIE, John Douglas→

director · ~66y · appointed 1995-04-11

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1995-04-06 · resigned 1995-04-11

Resigned

JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1995-04-06 · resigned 1995-04-11

Resigned

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