MIDDLEFISH FILMS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC397216 · ltd · incorporated 2011-04-06
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Motion picture production activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
36 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.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-04-30 | 2024-04-30 |
|---|
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
2
filings
- • 2 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
2
filings
- • 2 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 2 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-15📄replacement-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-dateconfirmation-statement · RP01CS01
- 2026-01-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-03📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2021-04-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2020-01-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-01-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-03📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-01-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-01-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-03📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2016-01-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2011-04-06🏢Company incorporatedAs MIDDLEFISH FILMS LIMITED
- 2011-04-06➕WARDEN, Richard John 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 61 — 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
78/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
- 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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Director Richard John Warden Individual · Canadian · DOB 08/1965 · age 61 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| M & L HARVEY LTD→ SC866165 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| MISSION ENGINEERING SUPPORT LIMITED→ SC855257 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| NORDISK LITERATURE LTD→ SC846863 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| NTABA LTD→ SC834638 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| PERTH CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU→ SC153915 · est 1994 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 31y | — | — |
| PHILIP CURRAN MUSIC LTD→ SC643644 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| POSITIVE BRAND MARKETING AND CONSULTING LTD→ SC466821 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| POSITIVEINTERNETMARKETING LIMITED→ SC357489 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| PREPRESS PROJECTS LIMITED→ SC209251 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| PROJECT TARA LTD.→ SC873999 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2011-04-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC59111 — Motion picture production activities
Registered office
The Doocot, Bramblebank
Balmoral Road
Blairgowrie
PH10 7HY
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-20
Last: 2026-04-06
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
WARDEN, Richard John→
Activedirector · ~61y · appointed 2011-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (36 total)
replacement-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP01CS01
2026-04-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-01-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-01-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-01-24
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-06