NOBLE BROTHERS (FRASERBURGH) LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC031809 · ltd · incorporated 1956-10-23
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£188.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10200
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 33.8y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 33.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (77/100)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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
89 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £188,602
Net assets shrinking
Down £52,244 YoY
Cash YoY
-2%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£137k
↓ 2.1% YoY
Net Worth
£189k
↓ 22% YoY
Current Assets
£188k
↓ 16% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £225.8k | £281.0k |
| Current assets | £187.9k | £224.9k |
| Cash | £137.0k | £140.0k |
| Debtors | £49.4k | £81.8k |
| Net assets | £188.6k | £240.8k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 signals 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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2025-07-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-12-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-18📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-12-16📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-09-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2013-12-19📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2012-03-28➖SMITH, Ian resignedsecretary
- 2012-03-27➖SMITH, Ian resigneddirector
- 1992-09-11🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
- 1992-07-20🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
- 1956-10-23🏢Company incorporatedAs NOBLE BROTHERS (FRASERBURGH) LIMITED
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 age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
85/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 69 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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
1 active beneficial owner| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Malcolm Thomas Smith Individual · British · DOB 12/1956 · age 70 | — | — | sig. influencesignificant influence · trust interest · firm interest | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GLEN GRANT LIMITED→ SC292101 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| GLOBAL TRADE CONCEPT LTD→ SC482474 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| HAAR COFFEE LIMITED→ SC836666 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| KARRO FOOD LIMITED→ SC220000 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| LAESO FISH LIMITED→ SC184241 · est 1998 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 28y | — | — |
| LICKIES CONVENIENCE FOODS LTD→ SC605075 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| LOSSIE SEAFOODS LTD.→ SC145004 · est 1993 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 32y | — | — |
| MACKIE'S LIMITED→ SC030096 · est 1954 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 71y | — | — |
| MATT PRITCHARD DIRTY VEGAN LTD→ SC746465 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| MCALLISTER CONFECTIONERY LIMITED→ SC759101 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| NINO’S MASALA LTD→ SC660929 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| NOLAN SEAFOODS (UK) LIMITED→ SC239960 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
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.
See pricing →Company details
Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1956-10-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC10200 — SIC 10200
Registered office
North Lane
Fraserburgh
Aberdeenshire
AB43 9DL
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-30
Last: 2025-12-16
Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)
Active
SMITH, Ian→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 2012-03-28
SMITH, Ian→
Resigneddirector · ~98y · resigned 2012-03-27
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 | Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company | Standard security | 1 property | 11/09/1992 | — | |
| outstanding | Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company | Floating charge | 1 property | 20/07/1992 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (89 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-12-20