FORWARD FIVE LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC362929 · ltd · incorporated 2009-07-22
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 Nov 2024
Net worth
£14.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
35 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £14,508
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£15k
↑ 10% YoY
Current Assets
£6k
↓ 3.8% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-11-29 | 2023-11-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £11.5k | £7.2k |
| Current assets | £6.0k | £6.3k |
| Net assets | £14.5k | £13.2k |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-10📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2022-02-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-10-02📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-08-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-08-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-08-01📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2009-07-22🏢Company incorporatedAs FORWARD FIVE LIMITED
- 2009-07-22➕MORGAN, Donald appointeddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 17 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
88/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- 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
cleanNo 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 Morgan Individual · British · DOB 09/1959 · age 67 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 14/07/2016 |
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 · Trade services · PA postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HARLEY & HUDSON LTD→ SC790559 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| HENDERSON TAXATION & ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES LTD→ SC454331 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| HIGHLANDS2HAMMOCKS LTD→ SC721117 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| HOST CONNECT - EDUCATION LTD→ SC847864 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| HOWAT'S LAUNDRY SERVICES LTD→ SC777229 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| IMPERIAL LAUNDRY LIMITED→ SC466704 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| IN-WORK ENTERPRISES LTD.→ SC495974 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVICE CENTRE (GLASGOW) LIMITED→ SC317059 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| INSIGHT PROJECT CONTROLS LIMITED→ SC632762 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| IRON PROTECTION SECURITY LIMITED→ SC833374 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| J1WVS LTD→ SC666678 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| JAC-G VENTURES LTD→ SC826526 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2009-07-22
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.
Registered office
179a Dalrymple Street
Greenock
Inverclyde
PA15 1BX
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-29
Last made up to: 2024-11-29
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-20
Last: 2025-07-06
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
MORGAN, Donald→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2009-07-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (35 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-26
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2022-11-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-27