FAST CORPORATE SERVICES LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC464486 · ltd · incorporated 2013-11-25
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 Nov 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other information technology service activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 68). 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
34 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£0Nov 2023Nov 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-11-302023-11-30

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
3
filings
  • 2 gazette
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • 2 gazette
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-21
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  2. 2026-03-10
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  3. 2025-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-03-05
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  5. 2025-03-04
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  6. 2024-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-03-26
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  8. 2024-02-20
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  9. 2023-06-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-08-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-03-11
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  12. 2022-02-15
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  13. 2021-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2021-04-27
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  15. 2021-04-06
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  16. 2020-11-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  17. 2019-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2013-11-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FAST CORPORATE SERVICES LTD
  19. 2013-11-25
    PAYNE, Hugh appointed
    secretary
  20. 2013-11-25
    PAYNE, Hugh appointed
    director

Owner dependency

95/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. 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 12 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 Hugh Payne
Individual · British · DOB 06/1958 · age 68
75100%
75-100% shares09/11/2016

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 →
🔒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
Incorporated2013-11-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC62090 — Other information technology service activities

Registered office

76 Winstanley Wynd
Woodside
Kilwinning
KA13 6AB

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-09
Last: 2025-11-25

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

PAYNE, Hugh
secretary · appointed 2013-11-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PAYNE, Hugh
director · ~68y · appointed 2013-11-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (34 total)

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2026-03-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-20
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2026-03-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-08-19
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-03-05
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-08-04
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2024-03-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-25
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-06-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-08-13
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2022-03-11