FORBES FARM DEVELOPMENTS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC450823 · ltd · incorporated 2013-05-24
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 88-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 88). 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
25 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31

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 (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-02-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-05-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-02-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-02-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-02-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-05-31
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2016-02-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-05-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-01-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-06-20
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2013-05-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FORBES FARM DEVELOPMENTS LTD
  17. 2013-05-24
    ➕
    FORBES, James appointed
    director
  18. 2013-05-24
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 "FORBES" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 88 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 88 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr James Forbes
Individual · British · DOB 05/1938 · age 88
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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

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 →
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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
Incorporated2013-05-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

4th Floor Metropolitan House
31-33 High Street
Inverness
IV1 1HT

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-18
Last: 2025-06-04

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

FORBES, James→
director · ~88y · appointed 2013-05-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (25 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-07-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-06-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-02-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-02-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-05-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-02-05