FAIR CITY SCAFFOLDING LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC085848 · ltd · incorporated 1983-12-07
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Scaffold erection
Sector: Construction
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). 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 30.0y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 30.0 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
10 officers (2 active, 10 linked, 5 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
115 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 3 | 300 |
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 (33 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-13📄appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP03
- 2023-01-13📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2023-01-13📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2022-12-22➕RAMSAY, Claire appointedsecretary
- 2022-12-22➖HOVELL, Elizabeth Earleen resignedsecretary
- 2022-12-22➖HOVELL, Elizabeth Earleen resigneddirector
- 2022-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-02📄accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AAMD
- 2020-12-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-07-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-12📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2017-12-12📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC02
- 2017-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-10-13➖HASSAN, Brian resignedsecretary
- 2016-10-13➖HASSAN, Brian resigneddirector
- 2016-10-12➕HOVELL, Elizabeth Earleen appointedsecretary
- 2016-10-12➕HOVELL, Elizabeth Earleen appointeddirector
- 2011-02-08➕HOVELL, David Alexander appointeddirector
- 2011-02-08➕HASSAN, Brian appointedsecretary
- 2011-02-08➖ROBERTSON, Carol-Ann resignedsecretary
- 2011-02-08➕HASSAN, Brian appointeddirector
- 2011-02-08➖ROBERTSON, James David resigneddirector
- 2002-06-13🔒Charge registered #2Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 1996-05-17➖COPLAND, Douglas resignedsecretary
- 1996-05-17➕ROBERTSON, Carol-Ann appointedsecretary
- 1996-05-17➖COPLAND, Douglas resigneddirector
- 1996-04-24🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 1983-12-07🏢Company incorporatedAs FAIR CITY SCAFFOLDING LIMITED
Owner dependency
100/100
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.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
98/100
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 72 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 15 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 42 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Group structure
Dundee Plant Company (No 2) Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.
🏛️ultimate parent
Dundee Plant Company (No 2) Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
⬇
FAIR CITY SCAFFOLDING LIMITED
This company · SC085848
Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).
Shareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dundee Plant Company (No 2) Limited Corporate entity | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr David Alexander Hovellceased 06/04/2016· significant influence
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| ALBANY BUILDING SERVICES LTD→ SC880781 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AM ELECTRICAL (FIFE) LIMITED→ SC529298 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| AMD BUILDING SERVICES LIMITED→ SC773875 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ANDRA & DENIS LIMITED→ SC792920 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ANDREW SHEPHERD CONSTRUCTION LIMITED→ SC099911 · est 1986 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 39y | — | — |
| ANDY CLARK ACCESS LIMITED→ SC462460 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ANGUS INSULATION LTD.→ SC282098 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| ANGUS REAL ESTATE LIMITED→ SC370236 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1983-12-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC43991 — Scaffold erection
Registered office
Longtown Street
Dundee
Tayside
DD4 8LF
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-24
Last: 2025-12-10
Officers (2 active · 8 resigned)
Active
HOVELL, David Alexander→
Activedirector · ~72y · appointed 2011-02-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
COPLAND, Douglas→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 1996-05-17
HASSAN, Brian→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2011-02-08 · resigned 2016-10-13
HOVELL, Elizabeth Earleen→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2016-10-12 · resigned 2022-12-22
ROBERTSON, Carol-Ann→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1996-05-17 · resigned 2011-02-08
COPLAND, Douglas→
Resigneddirector · ~90y · resigned 1996-05-17
HASSAN, Brian→
Resigneddirector · ~74y · appointed 2011-02-08 · resigned 2016-10-13
HOVELL, Elizabeth Earleen→
Resigneddirector · ~71y · appointed 2016-10-12 · resigned 2022-12-22
ROBERTSON, James David→
Resigneddirector · ~71y · resigned 2011-02-08
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 The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Standard security | 1 property | 13/06/2002 | — | |
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Standard security | 1 property | 24/04/1996 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (115 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-29
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2023-01-13
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-01-13
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-01-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2021-01-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-14