HIGHLAND HOUSE OF FRASER LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC262923 · ltd · incorporated 2004-02-04

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

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

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jan 2025

Net worth

£685.8k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Retail sale of clothing in specialised stores

Sector: Wholesale & retail

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

47721Retail sale of footwear in specialised stores
47789Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 79). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -61% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 22.1y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 22.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

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, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

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

Lenders & charges

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

Directors & officers

5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

57 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 £685,817

Cash draining

Cash down 61% YoY

Cash YoY

-61%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£55k

↓ 61% YoY

Net Worth

£686k

↑ 4.8% YoY

Current Assets

£447k

↓ 9.9% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-01-31	2024-01-31
Total assets	£943.7k	£968.6k
Current assets	£447.4k	£496.8k
Cash	£55.0k	£139.4k
Debtors	£129.9k	£126.4k
Net assets	£685.8k	£654.2k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2026-03-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-10-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-10-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-02-03
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-02-03
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-02-03
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2004-05-04
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2004-02-04
🏢
Company incorporated
As HIGHLAND HOUSE OF FRASER LIMITED
2004-02-04
➕
FRASER, William appointed
secretary
2004-02-04
➕
FRASER, Shona Marie appointed
director
2004-02-04
➕
FRASER, William appointed
director
2004-02-04
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-02-04
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-02-04
➕
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2004-02-04
➖
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

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "FRASER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100

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 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
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 Shona Marie Fraser Individual · British · DOB 05/1950 · age 76	50–75%	50–75%	50-75% shares · 50-75% voting	06/04/2016
Mr William Fraser Individual · British · DOB 06/1947 · age 79	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Retail · IV postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
DECORA LIMITED→ SC080155 · est 1982	£956.8k £717.6k–£1.20M	£4.97M	—	7800	43y	87	82y
BEN WYVIS KILTS LIMITED→ SC272661 · est 2004	—	—	£400.8k	—	21y	83	72y
BONK & CO. LIMITED→ SC064104 · est 1978	—	—	—	18	48y	83	65y
INVERNESS GOLF CENTRE LIMITED→ SC187445 · est 1998	—	—	£293.8k	—	27y	83	63y
PHOENIX FINDHORN C.I.C.→ SC155512 · est 1995 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	31y	83	70y
WE FRAME IT LTD.→ SC231494 · est 2002	—	—	£168.2k	—	24y	83	64y
AC & IC FRASER & SON LIMITED→ SC216589 · est 2001	—	—	£1.79M	—	25y	82	75y
AVCO INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES LIMITED→ SC259260 · est 2003	—	—	£63.6k	—	22y	82	72y
C.D.L.T. MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED→ SC117333 · est 1989 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	37y	82	79y
DALLAS DESIGNS LTD→ SC319375 · est 2007	—	—	—	500	19y	82	65y
FARR END ENTERPRISES LTD.→ SC299366 · est 2006	—	—	—	200	20y	82	66y
FRASER BROS LIMITED→ SC241063 · est 2002	—	—	—	1700	23y	82	68y

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2004-02-04

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC47710 — Retail sale of clothing in specialised stores

Registered office

Park House Centre

South Street

Elgin

Moray

IV30 1JB

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-10-31

Last made up to: 2025-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-20

Last: 2025-11-06

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

FRASER, William→

secretary · appointed 2004-02-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FRASER, Shona Marie→

director · ~76y · appointed 2004-02-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FRASER, William→

director · ~79y · appointed 2004-02-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-02-04 · resigned 2004-02-04

Resigned

STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-02-04 · resigned 2004-02-04

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 The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	04/05/2004	—

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