FRED'S WHISKY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC676436 · ltd · incorporated 2020-10-02
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£-938.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46170
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 72/100 (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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
19 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £938,911

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
-£939k
↓ 8.0% YoY
Current Assets
£11k
↓ 26% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£939k-£748k-£557k-£367k-£176k£15kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£-650.6k£-565.1k
Current assets£10.9k£14.9k
Net assets£-938.9k£-869.8k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-29
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2022-09-29
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  7. 2022-09-16
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2022-05-10
    GEMMELL, Andrew Peter resigned
    director
  9. 2021-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-11-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2021-08-13
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2021-08-13
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2021-08-12
    LADD, David John Edward resigned
    director
  14. 2021-05-17
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  15. 2021-03-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2020-10-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FRED'S WHISKY LIMITED
  17. 2020-10-02
    LAWRIE, Calum Alexander Armstrong appointed
    director
  18. 2020-10-02
    GEMMELL, Andrew Peter appointed
    director
  19. 2020-10-02
    LADD, David John Edward appointed
    director
  20. 2020-10-02
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some 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

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 Calum Alexander Armstrong Lawrie
Individual · British · DOB 10/1978 · age 48
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control02/10/2020
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Andrew Peter Gemmellceased 22/09/2022· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • Mr David John Edward Laddceased 12/08/2021· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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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
Incorporated2020-10-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46170 — SIC 46170

Registered office

1b Alba Business Pavilions
Livingston
EH54 7HG
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-15
Last: 2025-10-01

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

LAWRIE, Calum Alexander Armstrong
director · ~48y · appointed 2020-10-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GEMMELL, Andrew Peter
director · ~48y · appointed 2020-10-02 · resigned 2022-05-10
Resigned
LADD, David John Edward
director · ~57y · appointed 2020-10-02 · resigned 2021-08-12
Resigned

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

Recent filings (19 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-27
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-09-29
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-09-29
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-02
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-11-01
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-08-13