WEMYSS FORESTRY DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC180220 · ltd · incorporated 1997-11-03
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£351.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 02100
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 81-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 81). 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 (78/100)

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
82 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £351,001
Net assets shrinking
Down £11,928 YoY
Cash YoY
-7%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£189k
↓ 6.6% YoY
Net Worth
£351k
↓ 3.3% YoY
Current Assets
£199k
↓ 5.7% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£73k£145k£218k£290k£363kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-032024-04-03
Total assets£351.0k£362.9k
Current assets£198.7k£210.6k
Cash£188.7k£202.1k
Debtors£10.0k£8.5k
Net assets£351.0k£362.9k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-06-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-25
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  6. 2022-01-18
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  7. 2021-05-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-03-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-12-17
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  12. 2018-03-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-12-20
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2016-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-02-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-11-03
    ➖
    GITTINS, Christopher David resigned
    secretary
  17. 2001-11-14
    ➖
    HODGSON, John Frederick resigned
    secretary
  18. 2001-11-13
    ➕
    GITTINS, Christopher David appointed
    secretary
  19. 1997-11-13
    ➕
    O'DONNELL, Philip appointed
    director
  20. 1997-11-13
    ➕
    HODGSON, John Frederick appointed
    secretary
  21. 1997-11-13
    ➖
    REID, Brian resigned
    nominee-secretary
  22. 1997-11-13
    ➖
    MABBOTT, Stephen resigned
    nominee-director
  23. 1997-11-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As WEMYSS FORESTRY DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED
  24. 1997-11-03
    ➕
    REID, Brian appointed
    nominee-secretary
  25. 1997-11-03
    ➕
    MABBOTT, Stephen 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 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 81 — 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 81 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 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 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 Philip O'Donnell
Individual · United Kingdom · DOB 12/1945 · age 81
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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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————18y8384y
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SC155011 · est 1994
——£2.65M—31y8373y
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——£5.8k—22y8372y
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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
Incorporated1997-11-03
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC02100 — SIC 02100

Registered office

2 Castlehill
Campbeltown
Argyll
PA28 6AW

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-03
Last made up to: 2025-04-03
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-09
Last: 2025-10-26

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

O'DONNELL, Philip→
director · ~81y · appointed 1997-11-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GITTINS, Christopher David→
secretary · appointed 2001-11-13 · resigned 2015-11-03
Resigned
HODGSON, John Frederick→
secretary · appointed 1997-11-13 · resigned 2001-11-14
Resigned
REID, Brian→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-11-03 · resigned 1997-11-13
Resigned
MABBOTT, Stephen→
nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1997-11-03 · resigned 1997-11-13
Resigned

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

Recent filings (82 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-09
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2022-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-23
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2022-01-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-20