HEBRIDEAN SMOLTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC235174 · ltd · incorporated 2002-08-12

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No material changes in the last 90 days.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Oct 2025

Net worth

£480.3k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 03220

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 59). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 17.6y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 17.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (84/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

55 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £480,291

Net assets shrinking

Down £20,407 YoY

Cash YoY

+111%

Year on year

Key financials

3 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£127k

↑ 111% YoY

Net Worth

£480k

↓ 4.1% YoY

Current Assets

£521k

↑ 4.6% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-10-31	2024-10-31	2023-10-31
Total assets	£524.8k	£520.0k	£478.0k
Current assets	£521.1k	£498.2k	£452.9k
Cash	£126.5k	£59.9k	£224.4k
Debtors	£78.3k	£43.2k	£100.1k
Net assets	£480.3k	£500.7k	£433.7k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2026-05-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-10
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2019-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2018-09-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2017-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-08-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2008-12-04
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2002-09-09
➖
PF & S ( SECRETARIES) LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-09-09
➖
PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2002-09-01
➕
STEELE, Marion Fiona appointed
secretary
2002-09-01
➕
STEELE, Donald James appointed
director
2002-08-12
🏢
Company incorporated
As HEBRIDEAN SMOLTS LIMITED
2002-08-12
➕
PF & S ( SECRETARIES) LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-08-12
➕
PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100

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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Donald James Steele Individual · Scottish · DOB 12/1967 · age 59	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	12/08/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · HS postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
GREENSTONE FISHING LIMITED→ SC666436 · est 2020	£9.6k £7.4k–£11.8k	£63.7k	—	200	6y	84	47y
WHITESHORE COCKLES LTD→ SC379476 · est 2010	—	—	£1.81M	—	16y	83	61y
BARRA SALMON LIMITED→ SC101275 · est 1986	—	—	—	—	39y	82	73y
MACSWEEN'S DUNGANICHY LTD→ SC273960 · est 2004	—	—	£180.6k	—	21y	82	71y
S & SG LTD→ SC253571 · est 2003	—	—	—	100	22y	82	68y
SCARISTAVORE CROFTING TRUST LIMITED→ SC195471 · est 1999	—	—	£59.6k	—	27y	81	85y
AQUARIA (GRIMSAY) LTD→ SC476899 · est 2014	—	—	£552.5k	—	12y	80	70y
D MACINNES ASSOCIATES LTD→ SC259251 · est 2003	—	—	£23.2k	—	22y	80	73y
GAELTONE LIMITED→ SC289027 · est 2005	—	—	£1.0k	—	20y	80	84y
JACAMAR FISHING LTD→ SC336198 · est 2008	—	—	£24.5k	—	18y	80	62y
ASTRONAUT SHELLFISH LIMITED→ SC421678 · est 2012	—	—	£107.5k	—	14y	79	62y
CARLOWAY CROFTS LIMITED→ SC476584 · est 2014	—	—	£58.0k	—	12y	79	59y

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

Incorporated2002-08-12

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC03220 — SIC 03220

Registered office

28 Liniclate

Benbecula

Western Isles

HS7 5PY

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-07-31

Last made up to: 2025-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-22

Last: 2026-05-08

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

STEELE, Marion Fiona→

secretary · appointed 2002-09-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

STEELE, Donald James→

director · ~59y · appointed 2002-09-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

PF & S ( SECRETARIES) LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-08-12 · resigned 2002-09-09

Resigned

PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-08-12 · resigned 2002-09-09

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Floating charge	1 property	04/12/2008	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (55 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-05-21

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-05-20

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-05-16

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-05-08

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-08-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-05-21

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-08-16

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-05-24

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-08-25

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-05-04

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-08-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2021-04-22

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2020-10-01

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-08-12

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2020-02-10