IF & CA NICOLSON LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC169516 · ltd · incorporated 1996-11-01
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 Nov 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01500
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (78/100, director aged 69). 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

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 23.9y

30/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 23.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
84 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
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£0Nov 2023Nov 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-11-302023-11-30
Average employees100100

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 (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-07
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  5. 2022-10-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-09-06
    ➖
    NICOLSON, Ian Frank resigned
    director
  9. 2019-11-20
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2019-11-20
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  11. 2019-11-20
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2019-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-11-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2018-09-20
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  15. 2018-09-20
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  16. 2018-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-12-11
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  18. 2017-12-11
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  19. 2017-10-31
    ➕
    NICOLSON, Catherine Agnes appointed
    director
  20. 2011-12-05
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  21. 2003-11-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Leslie Angus and Others as Trustees of Shetland Charitable Trust
  22. 2002-07-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Scotland PLC
  23. 1996-11-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As IF & CA NICOLSON LIMITED
  24. 1996-11-01
    ➕
    NICOLSON, Catherine Agnes appointed
    secretary
  25. 1996-11-01
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 1996-11-01
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 1996-11-01
    ➕
    NICOLSON, Ian Frank appointed
    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 "NICOLSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
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 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Duane William Nicolson
Individual · British · DOB 02/1980 · age 46
25–50%
—25-50% shares30/04/2017
Mr George Andrew Nicolson
Individual · British · DOB 03/1978 · age 48
25–50%
—25-50% shares30/04/2017
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Ian Frank Nicolsonceased 30/04/2017· 75-100% shares

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

Similar companies

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CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
RESEARCH FISHING CO. LIMITED→
SC103453 · est 1987
£15.65M
£12.04M–£19.26M
——039y8187y
CHARISMA HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED→
SC207704 · est 2000
£14.85M
£11.42M–£18.28M
——025y8375y
GRONIDAAL ORGANIC SMOLTS LTD.→
SC307638 · est 2006
——£396.2k—19y8382y
UNST SHELLFISH LTD.→
SC326121 · est 2007
——£180.6k—18y8361y
C & A THOMASON LTD.→
SC197920 · est 1999
——£217.5k—26y8288y
GUIDING LIGHT FISHING COMPANY LIMITED→
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———218y8258y
SHETLAND MARINE LIMITED→
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———315y8270y
SHETLAND SEAFOOD AUCTIONS LIMITED→
SC190378 · est 1998
——£408.2k—27y8262y
TINGWALL LIVESTOCK LIMITED→
SC285843 · est 2005
——£247.4k—20y8275y
ANDERSON BROS (VOE) LTD.→
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——£220.2k—23y8064y
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————18y8070y
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
Incorporated1996-11-01
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500

Registered office

Sungaets
Ollaberry
Shetland
ZE2 9SA
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-15
Last: 2025-11-01

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

NICOLSON, Catherine Agnes→
secretary · appointed 1996-11-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
NICOLSON, Catherine Agnes→
director · ~69y · appointed 2017-10-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-11-01 · resigned 1996-11-01
Resigned
NICOLSON, Ian Frank→
director · ~74y · appointed 1996-11-01 · resigned 2020-09-06
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Leslie Angus and Others as Trustees of Shetland Charitable Trust
Standard security1 property03/11/200305/12/2011
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property04/07/200220/09/2018

Recent filings (84 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-11
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-02
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-11-20
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2019-11-20