GFI ENTERPRISES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC158619 · ltd · incorporated 1995-06-13
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company 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 (76/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
91 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Jun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Average employees9800

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-10-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-07-10
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  6. 2023-02-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-03-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-07-12
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  9. 2021-07-09
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  10. 2021-03-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-03-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-03-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-11-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2017-06-27
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  16. 1998-12-07
    ➕
    CARDNO, Lynda appointed
    secretary
  17. 1998-12-07
    ➖
    EDMOND, Carol Ann resigned
    secretary
  18. 1995-08-09
    ➖
    CARDNO, Alan Normn resigned
    secretary
  19. 1995-08-09
    ➕
    EDMOND, Carol Ann appointed
    secretary
  20. 1995-07-12
    ➕
    CARDNO, Alan Norman appointed
    director
  21. 1995-07-12
    ➕
    CARDNO, Alan Normn appointed
    secretary
  22. 1995-06-13
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As GFI ENTERPRISES LIMITED
  23. 1995-06-13
    ➕
    REID, Brian appointed
    nominee-secretary
  24. 1995-06-13
    ➖
    REID, Brian resigned
    nominee-secretary
  25. 1995-06-13
    ➕
    MABBOTT, Stephen appointed
    nominee-director
  26. 1995-06-13
    ➖
    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 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

3 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Jack Cardno
Individual · British · DOB 08/1993 · age 33
25–50%
—25-50% shares28/06/2021
Lynda Cardno
Individual · British · DOB 03/1966 · age 60
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Alan Norman Cardno
Individual · British · DOB 10/1960 · age 66
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • William Yeomanceased 28/06/2021· 25-50% shares

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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——019y8468y
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ALLEN ASSOCIATES (H.P.E.) LIMITED→
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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
Incorporated1995-06-13
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

C/O Henderson Loggie 1 Marischal Square
Broad Street
Aberdeen
AB10 1BL
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-26
Last: 2025-07-12

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

CARDNO, Lynda→
secretary · appointed 1998-12-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CARDNO, Alan Norman→
director · ~66y · appointed 1995-07-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CARDNO, Alan Normn→
secretary · appointed 1995-07-12 · resigned 1995-08-09
Resigned
EDMOND, Carol Ann→
secretary · appointed 1995-08-09 · resigned 1998-12-07
Resigned
REID, Brian→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1995-06-13 · resigned 1995-06-13
Resigned
MABBOTT, Stephen→
nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1995-06-13 · resigned 1995-06-13
Resigned

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

Recent filings (91 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-25
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-17
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2023-07-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-12
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2021-07-12
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-07-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-09