FORTNUM & WOOLLEY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC221599 · ltd · incorporated 2001-07-26
Investment thesis
Unencumbered property vehicle — clean asset-backed target with refinance headroom.
Why interesting: Property-holding entity with no live charges; straightforward asset-backed case.
Why risky: Values depend on title and valuation; property-specific market exposure.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Construction of commercial buildings
Sector: Construction
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 43910Roofing activities
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 69). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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, 2 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
7 officers (4 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
72 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£0Jul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Average employees3300

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. 2025-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-26
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-04-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-04-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-04-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-04-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-09-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2021-07-30
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  9. 2021-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-08-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-04-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-04-04
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2018-03-28
    ➖
    WOOLLEY, David Maurice resigned
    director
  15. 2018-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-08-21
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  17. 2017-08-08
    ➕
    FORTNUM, Oliver appointed
    director
  18. 2011-07-01
    ➕
    FORTNUM, Samantha Jane appointed
    director
  19. 2001-07-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FORTNUM & WOOLLEY LIMITED
  20. 2001-07-26
    ➕
    FORTNUM, Matthew appointed
    secretary
  21. 2001-07-26
    ➕
    FORTNUM, Matthew appointed
    director
  22. 2001-07-26
    ➕
    SAME-DAY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2001-07-26
    ➖
    SAME-DAY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2001-07-26
    ➕
    WOOLLEY, David Maurice appointed
    director
  25. 2001-07-26
    ➕
    WILDMAN & BATTELL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 2001-07-26
    ➖
    WILDMAN & BATTELL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

98/100
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
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "FORTNUM" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100
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.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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 Matthew Fortnum
Individual · British · DOB 02/1957 · age 69
25–50%
25–50%sig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · significant influence06/04/2016

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

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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
Incorporated2001-07-26
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC41201 — Construction of commercial buildings

Registered office

23 George Street
Dumfries
DG1 1EA
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-24
Last: 2025-08-10

Officers (4 active · 3 resigned)

FORTNUM, Matthew→
secretary · appointed 2001-07-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORTNUM, Matthew→
director · ~69y · appointed 2001-07-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORTNUM, Oliver→
director · ~37y · appointed 2017-08-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORTNUM, Samantha Jane→
director · ~59y · appointed 2011-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SAME-DAY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-07-26 · resigned 2001-07-26
Resigned
WOOLLEY, David Maurice→
director · ~84y · appointed 2001-07-26 · resigned 2018-03-28
Resigned
WILDMAN & BATTELL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-07-26 · resigned 2001-07-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (72 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-26
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-09-06
change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2021-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-15