FORTH ORTHOTICS LTD
💤Zombieactive
SC392723 · ltd · incorporated 2011-02-02
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
£52.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 47749
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: 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: 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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
31 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 · FRS 105 (micro)Positive net assets
Net assets £52,304
Net assets shrinking
Down £527 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£52k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£58k
↓ 3.1% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-02-28 | 2024-02-28 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £53.7k | £54.0k |
| Current assets | £57.6k | £59.5k |
| Net assets | £52.3k | £52.8k |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-17📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2025-06-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-05-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-06-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-07-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-02-09📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-07-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-02-17📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-11-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2011-02-02🏢Company incorporatedAs FORTH ORTHOTICS LTD
- 2011-02-02➕MELVILLE, Callum Blair appointeddirector
Owner dependency
98/100
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 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
- +No director turnover: Company is 15 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 64. 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 15 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Callum Blair Melville Individual · British · DOB 08/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · firm interest | 02/02/2017 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Hazel Melvilleceased 01/11/2025· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · firm interest
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| MAIA (SCOTLAND) LTD→ SC402537 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
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| MARKHOR TRADING LTD→ SC846972 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| MARRLIE LIMITED→ SC838893 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS ENTERPRISES (KINROSS) LIMITED→ SC482033 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| MBM HEALTHCARE WALES LTD→ SC881733 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| MCARTHUR BUTCHERS LTD→ SC672447 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| MCDUFF CORNER LTD→ SC647865 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2011-02-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47749 — SIC 47749
Registered office
Unit 1b 5 Bellman Way
Donibristle Hillend
Dalgetty Bay
Fife
KY11 9JW
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-10
Last: 2026-01-27
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
MELVILLE, Callum Blair→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2011-02-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (31 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-02
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-11-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-07-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-07-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-07-26