FORTEL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC164593 · ltd · incorporated 1996-04-01
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 22290
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 82-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 82). 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 (56/100)

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
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
76 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-25
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  2. 2025-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-04-07
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  4. 2025-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-04-06
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-04-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-11-04
    ➖
    COLLINS, Deborah Louise resigned
    secretary
  17. 2014-11-04
    ➖
    COLLINS, Deborah Louise resigned
    director
  18. 1999-10-29
    ➕
    COLLINS, Deborah Louise appointed
    secretary
  19. 1999-09-28
    ➖
    PAGAN MACBETH resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 1999-09-28
    ➖
    CLARKE, John Bernard resigned
    nominee-director
  21. 1998-02-26
    ➕
    COLLINS, John Louis Frederick Charles appointed
    director
  22. 1996-09-06
    ➕
    COLLINS, Deborah Louise appointed
    director
  23. 1996-04-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FORTEL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
  24. 1996-04-01
    ➕
    PAGAN MACBETH appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1996-04-01
    ➕
    CLARKE, John Bernard appointed
    nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 82 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 82 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 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

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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Louis Frederick Charles Collins
Individual · British · DOB 01/1944 · age 82
——board controlboard control · firm interest06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr John Louis Frederick Charles Collinsceased 23/01/2026· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control

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

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
Incorporated1996-04-01
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC22290 — SIC 22290

Registered office

3 Cupar Road
Largoward
Leven
Fife
KY9 1HX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-15
Last: 2026-04-01

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

COLLINS, John Louis Frederick Charles→
director · ~82y · appointed 1998-02-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COLLINS, Deborah Louise→
secretary · appointed 1999-10-29 · resigned 2014-11-04
Resigned
PAGAN MACBETH→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-04-01 · resigned 1999-09-28
Resigned
CLARKE, John Bernard→
nominee-director · ~71y · appointed 1996-04-01 · resigned 1999-09-28
Resigned
COLLINS, Deborah Louise→
director · ~57y · appointed 1996-09-06 · resigned 2014-11-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (76 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-02
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-01-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-12-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-09
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-12-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-02