FORTH LOGISTICS MARINE SERVICES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC281264 · ltd · incorporated 2005-03-09
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.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 20.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
83/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 52101
Sector: Transportation & storage
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 52220SIC 52220
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 3 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 20.0y

50/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 20.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

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

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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
50 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
83/100Exceptional
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
85
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
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
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees363600

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-01-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-03-01
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2016-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-03-25
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  14. 2015-03-25
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  15. 2015-03-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2007-10-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  17. 2007-09-01
    ➖
    GEVERS, Job Hugo Alexander resigned
    director
  18. 2007-04-13
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
  19. 2006-05-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  20. 2005-03-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FORTH LOGISTICS MARINE SERVICES LIMITED
  21. 2005-03-09
    ➕
    DENHOLM, Bryan appointed
    secretary
  22. 2005-03-09
    ➕
    DENHOLM, Bryan appointed
    director
  23. 2005-03-09
    ➕
    MCPHAIL, Alexander appointed
    director
  24. 2005-03-09
    ➕
    GEVERS, Job Hugo Alexander appointed
    director

Owner dependency

76/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
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 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Bryan Denholm
Individual · British · DOB 09/1962 · age 64
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mr Alexander Marinus Mcphail
Individual · British · DOB 10/1974 · age 52
25–50%
—25-50% 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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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
Incorporated2005-03-09
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC52101 — SIC 52101

Registered office

Merlin House
5 Cross Way
Hillend Industrial Park
Dunfermline Fife
KY11 9JE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-14
Last: 2026-02-28

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

DENHOLM, Bryan→
secretary · appointed 2005-03-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DENHOLM, Bryan→
director · ~64y · appointed 2005-03-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCPHAIL, Alexander→
director · ~52y · appointed 2005-03-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GEVERS, Job Hugo Alexander→
director · ~62y · appointed 2005-03-09 · resigned 2007-09-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

3
Total charges
3
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property15/10/2007—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
Floating charge1 property13/04/2007—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property08/05/2006—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (50 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-03-07