CHIMES (FORRES) LTD.

💤Zombieactive

SC259959 · ltd · incorporated 2003-11-28

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other food services

Sector: Accommodation & food service

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 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

2 live charges · oldest 21.9y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 21.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)

Directors & officers

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

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

53 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	—	£79.6k
Net assets	—	£49.5k
Average employees	0	—

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

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2025-11-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-11
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2018-02-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-01-02
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-11-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2004-11-16
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2004-06-22
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2003-11-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As CHIMES (FORRES) LTD.
2003-11-28
➕
HANNAFORD, Norman George appointed
secretary
2003-11-28
➕
HANNAFORD, Angela Mary appointed
director
2003-11-28
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-11-28
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-11-28
➕
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2003-11-28
➖
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
corporate-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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — 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 70 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 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Angela Mary Hannaford Individual · British · DOB 12/1956 · age 70	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016
Mr Norman George Hannaford Individual · British · DOB 10/1957 · age 69	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Hospitality · IV postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
BUNCHREW CARAVAN PARK LIMITED→ SC295539 · est 2006	—	—	£1.43M	—	20y	83	71y
CEILIDH PLACES LIMITED→ SC164338 · est 1996	—	—	£55.0k	—	30y	83	88y
HARRIS HOTEL (2002) LTD.→ SC230177 · est 2002	—	—	£200.2k	—	24y	83	93y
LOCH TORRIDON HOTEL LIMITED→ SC192961 · est 1999	—	—	£959.8k	—	27y	83	85y
THE LOCH NESS COFFEE COMPANY LIMITED→ SC221691 · est 2001	—	—	£174.1k	—	24y	83	68y
BRAESIDE LIMITED→ SC267916 · est 2004	—	—	£3.10M	—	21y	82	65y
CARTERS LTD→ SC328589 · est 2007	—	—	—	—	18y	82	63y
CLUBHOUSE SCOTLAND LIMITED→ SC386878 · est 2010	—	—	—	0	15y	82	81y
DRAWMAJOR LIMITED→ SC130628 · est 1991	—	—	£433.2k	—	35y	82	73y
EOLAS CONSULTANTS LIMITED→ SC183507 · est 1998	—	—	—	100	28y	82	71y
G & A R LIMITED→ SC309130 · est 2006	—	—	£4.1k	—	19y	82	62y
GLEN AFFRIC HOLIDAY PARK LTD→ SC390826 · est 2010	—	—	£504.7k	—	15y	82	58y

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

Incorporated2003-11-28

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC56290 — Other food services

Registered office

Ritsons

103 High Street

Forres

IV36 1AA

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-09

Last: 2025-11-25

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

HANNAFORD, Norman George→

secretary · appointed 2003-11-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HANNAFORD, Angela Mary→

director · ~70y · appointed 2003-11-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-11-28 · resigned 2003-11-28

Resigned

STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-11-28 · resigned 2003-11-28

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	16/11/2004	—
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Standard security	1 property	22/06/2004	—

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