AITKEN SHELLFISH LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC360377 · ltd · incorporated 2009-05-28
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 15.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
£521.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 03110
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. 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 15.9y

65/100
clean up first

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 15.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
47 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £521,685

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£522k
↑ 6.5% YoY
Current Assets
£241k
↑ 59% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£104k£209k£313k£417k£522kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£521.7k£489.7k
Current assets£240.9k£151.5k
Net assets£521.7k£489.7k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-02-25
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  4. 2025-02-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2024-02-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-06-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2022-06-06
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2022-06-01
    ➕
    AITKEN, Graham appointed
    director
  10. 2022-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-03-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2021-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-02-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2010-05-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  18. 2009-05-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AITKEN SHELLFISH LIMITED
  19. 2009-05-28
    ➕
    AITKEN, Frazer appointed
    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 "AITKEN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 17 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

29/100
Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — AITKEN, Graham (same surname) appointed 2022-06-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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
Mrs Isabella Aitken
Individual · Scottish · DOB 04/1969 · age 57
25–50%
—25-50% shares24/06/2024
Mr Frazer Aitken
Individual · British · DOB 05/1968 · age 58
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

6 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 →
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Available from the Pro tier upwards.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2009-05-28
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC03110 — SIC 03110

Registered office

19 Ardview
Port Ellen
Isle Of Islay
PA42 7BP
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-20
Last: 2025-06-06

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

AITKEN, Frazer→
director · ~58y · appointed 2009-05-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
AITKEN, Graham→
director · ~33y · appointed 2022-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Floating charge1 property27/05/2010—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (47 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-26
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-02-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-21
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-06-10
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-06-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-31
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-03-14