ASPEN FORESTRY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC237888 · ltd · incorporated 2002-10-09
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 Oct 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 21.3y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 21.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (71/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
11 officers (2 active, 11 linked, 5 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
67 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

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-10-31

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (38 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-19
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  5. 2022-12-27
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  6. 2022-03-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-11-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-11-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-07-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-06-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-10-30
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-03-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-02-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  16. 2008-02-01
    ➕
    HETHERINGTON, Hazel appointed
    secretary
  17. 2008-02-01
    ➖
    MOORE, Anthony John resigned
    secretary
  18. 2008-02-01
    ➖
    MOORE, Anthony John resigned
    director
  19. 2008-01-30
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  20. 2007-04-28
    ➕
    HETHERINGTON, John appointed
    director
  21. 2007-04-28
    ➖
    CARTER, Graham John resigned
    director
  22. 2007-04-27
    ➕
    MOORE, Anthony John appointed
    secretary
  23. 2007-04-27
    ➖
    NAPIER, Karen resigned
    secretary
  24. 2007-04-27
    ➖
    CARTER, Susan resigned
    director
  25. 2007-04-27
    ➕
    MOORE, Anthony John appointed
    director
  26. 2004-12-16
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  27. 2004-04-16
    ➖
    BLACKBURN, Trevor Matthew resigned
    director
  28. 2002-11-09
    ➕
    BLACKBURN, Trevor Matthew appointed
    director
  29. 2002-10-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASPEN FORESTRY LIMITED
  30. 2002-10-09
    ➕
    NAPIER, Karen appointed
    secretary
  31. 2002-10-09
    ➕
    COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  32. 2002-10-09
    ➖
    COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  33. 2002-10-09
    ➕
    CARTER, Graham John appointed
    director
  34. 2002-10-09
    ➕
    CARTER, Susan appointed
    director
  35. 2002-10-09
    ➕
    COMBINED NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  36. 2002-10-09
    ➖
    COMBINED NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  37. 2002-10-09
    ➕
    COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  38. 2002-10-09
    ➖
    COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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.)

Group structure

Premier Woodlands Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Premier Woodlands Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
⬇
ASPEN FORESTRY LIMITED
This company · SC237888

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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Premier Woodlands Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2002-10-09
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999

Registered office

Suite 111, King James Vi
Business Centre
Perth
Perthshire
PH2 8DG

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-23
Last: 2025-10-09

Officers (2 active · 9 resigned)

HETHERINGTON, Hazel→
secretary · appointed 2008-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HETHERINGTON, John→
director · ~64y · appointed 2007-04-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MOORE, Anthony John→
secretary · appointed 2007-04-27 · resigned 2008-02-01
Resigned
NAPIER, Karen→
secretary · appointed 2002-10-09 · resigned 2007-04-27
Resigned
COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-10-09 · resigned 2002-10-09
Resigned
BLACKBURN, Trevor Matthew→
director · ~59y · appointed 2002-11-09 · resigned 2004-04-16
Resigned
CARTER, Graham John→
director · ~64y · appointed 2002-10-09 · resigned 2007-04-28
Resigned
CARTER, Susan→
director · ~60y · appointed 2002-10-09 · resigned 2007-04-27
Resigned
MOORE, Anthony John→
director · ~75y · appointed 2007-04-27 · resigned 2008-02-01
Resigned
COMBINED NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-10-09 · resigned 2002-10-09
Resigned
COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-10-09 · resigned 2002-10-09
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Standard security1 property16/12/200430/01/2008

Recent filings (67 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-06-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-04-27
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-01-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-18
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2022-12-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-03-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-11-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-24