FERRIS & SONS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC541088 · ltd · incorporated 2016-07-25
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 Jul 2024
Net worth
£88.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other activities of employment placement agencies
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. 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 (58/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 9.0y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 9.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
28 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £88,533
Net assets shrinking
Down £6,439 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£89k
↓ 6.8% YoY
Current Assets
£165k
↓ 17% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-07-31 | 2023-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £184.8k | £219.1k |
| Current assets | £165.5k | £198.3k |
| Net assets | £88.5k | £95.0k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
- 2025-04-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-03📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-18📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-04-26📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-12-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-04-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-21📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2017-07-11📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2017-07-06🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2017-05-03📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2017-04-23🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2017-01-23📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2016-11-28➖FERRIS, Deborah resigneddirector
- 2016-07-25🏢Company incorporatedAs FERRIS & SONS LIMITED
- 2016-07-25➕FERRIS, Scott William Abbey appointeddirector
- 2016-07-25➕FERRIS, Deborah appointeddirector
Owner dependency
90/100
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.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "FERRIS" — strong identity link between founder and business.
Succession & seller-readiness
45/100
Moderate signalSome succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Scott William Abbey Ferris Individual · British · DOB 06/1975 · age 51 | 50–75% | 50–75% | 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting | 25/07/2016 |
Deborah Ferris Individual · British · DOB 02/1973 · age 53 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 25/07/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| JGS ENVIRONMENTAL LIMITED→ SC432888 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| JML ENTERPRISES LTD→ SC798686 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| KENNEDY MANAGEMENT SERVICES LTD→ SC655212 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| KENNETH M GREENER LTD.→ SC229918 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| KFA PLANT LTD→ SC617277 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
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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.
See pricing →Company details
Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2016-07-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC78109 — Other activities of employment placement agencies
Registered office
1 Orchard Street
Motherwell
ML1 3JE
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-18
Last: 2026-03-04
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
FERRIS, Scott William Abbey→
Activedirector · ~51y · appointed 2016-07-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
FERRIS, Deborah→
Resigneddirector · ~53y · appointed 2016-07-25 · resigned 2016-11-28
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 06/07/2017 | — | |
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC | A registered charge | — | 23/04/2017 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (28 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-30
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-30
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-12-18