CUMBRAE OYSTERS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC157761 · ltd · incorporated 1995-05-01
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
£538.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 03110
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 03210SIC 03210
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 29.2y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 29.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
83 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £538,137
Cash YoY
+49%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£201k
↑ 49% YoY
Net Worth
£538k
↑ 8.5% YoY
Current Assets
£581k
↑ 9.4% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£116k£232k£349k£465k£581kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£540.6k£507.7k
Current assets£581.2k£531.1k
Cash£200.8k£134.4k
Debtors£231.3k£288.9k
Net assets£538.1k£496.0k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-12-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-05-09
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2016-03-08
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AAMD
  13. 2015-12-29
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  14. 2015-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-10-28
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AAMD
  16. 2013-06-14
    ➖
    MOORE, Jonathan Richard resigned
    director
  17. 2011-01-19
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  18. 1997-02-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: James Ewing Forbes
  19. 1995-05-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CUMBRAE OYSTERS LIMITED
  20. 1995-05-01
    ➕
    FORBES, Alan Edward appointed
    secretary
  21. 1995-05-01
    ➕
    FORBES, Alan Edward appointed
    director
  22. 1995-05-01
    ➕
    ASHCROFT CAMERON SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  23. 1995-05-01
    ➖
    ASHCROFT CAMERON SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  24. 1995-05-01
    ➕
    MOORE, Jonathan Richard appointed
    director
  25. 1995-05-01
    ➕
    ASHCROFT CAMERON NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director
  26. 1995-05-01
    ➖
    ASHCROFT CAMERON NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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 31 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 candidate

Strong 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 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alan Edward Forbes
Individual · British · DOB 05/1966 · age 60
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/05/2016

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 →

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———————
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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
Incorporated1995-05-01
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC03110 — SIC 03110

Registered office

Viewfield
38a Bowfield Road, Howwood
Johnstone
Renfrewshire
PA9 1BS

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-15
Last: 2025-08-01

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

FORBES, Alan Edward→
secretary · appointed 1995-05-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORBES, Alan Edward→
director · ~60y · appointed 1995-05-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASHCROFT CAMERON SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 1995-05-01 · resigned 1995-05-01
Resigned
MOORE, Jonathan Richard→
director · ~58y · appointed 1995-05-01 · resigned 2013-06-14
Resigned
ASHCROFT CAMERON NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 1995-05-01 · resigned 1995-05-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
James Ewing Forbes
Bond & floating charge1 property19/02/199719/01/2011

Recent filings (83 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-05-01