FORTEL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC164593 · ltd · incorporated 1996-04-01
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
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 22290
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 82-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 82). 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 (56/100)

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
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
76 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.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-25
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  2. 2025-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-04-07
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  4. 2025-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-04-06
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-04-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-11-04
    ➖
    COLLINS, Deborah Louise resigned
    secretary
  17. 2014-11-04
    ➖
    COLLINS, Deborah Louise resigned
    director
  18. 1999-10-29
    ➕
    COLLINS, Deborah Louise appointed
    secretary
  19. 1999-09-28
    ➖
    PAGAN MACBETH resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 1999-09-28
    ➖
    CLARKE, John Bernard resigned
    nominee-director
  21. 1998-02-26
    ➕
    COLLINS, John Louis Frederick Charles appointed
    director
  22. 1996-09-06
    ➕
    COLLINS, Deborah Louise appointed
    director
  23. 1996-04-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FORTEL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
  24. 1996-04-01
    ➕
    PAGAN MACBETH appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1996-04-01
    ➕
    CLARKE, John Bernard appointed
    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 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 82 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 82 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Louis Frederick Charles Collins
Individual · British · DOB 01/1944 · age 82
——board controlboard control · firm interest06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr John Louis Frederick Charles Collinsceased 23/01/2026· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control

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

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
Incorporated1996-04-01
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC22290 — SIC 22290

Registered office

3 Cupar Road
Largoward
Leven
Fife
KY9 1HX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-15
Last: 2026-04-01

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

COLLINS, John Louis Frederick Charles→
director · ~82y · appointed 1998-02-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COLLINS, Deborah Louise→
secretary · appointed 1999-10-29 · resigned 2014-11-04
Resigned
PAGAN MACBETH→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-04-01 · resigned 1999-09-28
Resigned
CLARKE, John Bernard→
nominee-director · ~71y · appointed 1996-04-01 · resigned 1999-09-28
Resigned
COLLINS, Deborah Louise→
director · ~57y · appointed 1996-09-06 · resigned 2014-11-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (76 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-02
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-01-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-12-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-09
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-12-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-02