BURNS HOWFF LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC424188 · ltd · incorporated 2012-05-16

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No material changes in the last 90 days.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Nov 2024

Net worth

£22.9k

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Public houses and bars

Sector: Accommodation & food service

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (76/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

29 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £22,907

Net assets shrinking

Down £10,223 YoY

Cash YoY

-19%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£41k

↓ 19% YoY

Net Worth

£23k

↓ 31% YoY

Current Assets

£49k

↓ 16% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-11-30	2023-11-30
Total assets	£22.9k	£33.1k
Current assets	£49.0k	£58.2k
Cash	£41.0k	£50.8k
Net assets	£22.9k	£33.1k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2025-07-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-08-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-08-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-08-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-06-10
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-08-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-06-03
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-05-16
🏢
Company incorporated
As BURNS HOWFF LIMITED
2012-05-16
➕
BROWN, Gayle appointed
secretary
2012-05-16
➕
BROWN, Gayle appointed
director

Owner dependency

88/100

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

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.
+No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. 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 14 years.
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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Miss Gayle Brown Individual · British · DOB 05/1968 · age 58	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/04/2016

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

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2012-05-16

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC56302 — Public houses and bars

Registered office

165 Main Street

Wishaw

Lanarkshire

ML2 7AU

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-08-31

Last made up to: 2024-11-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-16

Last: 2026-05-02

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

BROWN, Gayle→

secretary · appointed 2012-05-16

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BROWN, Gayle→

director · ~58y · appointed 2012-05-16

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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