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.
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 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 29.3y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 29.3 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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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