J W THOMSON LTD

💤Zombieactive

SC429704 · ltd · incorporated 2012-08-03

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 Sept 2024

Net worth

£44.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

47230SIC 47230

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 (78/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 2 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

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

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

28 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 · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £44,394

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£44k

↑ 310% YoY

Current Assets

£66k

↑ 62% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2024-09-30	2023-09-30
Total assets	£44.4k	£10.8k
Current assets	£65.6k	£40.5k
Net assets	£44.4k	£10.8k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand

2025-06-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-06-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-06-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-06
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-06-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-08-07
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-06-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2013-08-08
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-08-03
🏢
Company incorporated
As J W THOMSON LTD
2012-08-03
➕
THOMSON, John William Wood 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

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "THOMSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — 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 59. 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John William Wood Thomson Individual · British · DOB 04/1967 · age 59	50–75%	—	50-75% shares	06/04/2016
Mrs Shirley Diana Thomson Individual · British · DOB 01/1970 · age 56	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Food & drink · KY postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
R.T. STUART LIMITED→ SC021805 · est 1941	£5.39M £3.97M–£6.81M	—	—	16100	84y	84	76y
KETTLE PRODUCE LIMITED→ SC097725 · est 1986	£4.91M £3.62M–£6.20M	—	—	98700	40y	83	65y
ALLSON SPARKLE LIMITED→ SC089716 · est 1984	£4.75M £3.50M–£6.00M	£14.81M	—	5600	41y	85	60y
INNOVATE FOODS LIMITED→ SC116286 · est 1989	£4.34M £3.20M–£5.48M	£26.99M	—	10900	37y	79	65y
SE WATSON CONSULTING LIMITED→ SC301608 · est 2006	—	—	—	200	19y	80	59y
GFJK LTD→ SC423364 · est 2012	—	—	£334	—	13y	79	66y
R.T. STUART BAKERS LIMITED→ SC568235 · est 2017	—	—	—	600	8y	79	76y
BREW SHED BEERS LIMITED→ SC525036 · est 2016	—	—	£1.6k	—	10y	78	63y
BRUCEHAVEN BREWERY LTD.→ SC528773 · est 2016	—	—	—	—	10y	78	63y
EAT & GO PHOENIX FOOD COMPANY LIMITED→ SC327774 · est 2007	—	—	£39.9k	—	18y	78	78y
FISHER & DONALDSON (ST. ANDREWS) LIMITED→ SC037437 · est 1962	—	—	—	14600	64y	78	69y
GROWERS GARDEN LIMITED→ SC586734 · est 2018	—	—	£531.7k	—	8y	78	61y

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

Incorporated2012-08-03

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC10710 — Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes

Registered office

Cairnfield 14 School Road

Balmullo

St. Andrews

Fife

KY16 0BD

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-06-30

Last made up to: 2024-09-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-17

Last: 2025-08-03

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

THOMSON, John William Wood→

director · ~59y · appointed 2012-08-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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