HERD HOLDINGS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC254945 · ltd · incorporated 2003-08-28

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

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

£236.6k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Activities of other holding companies n.e.c.

Sector: Financial & insurance

Investor take

Special-situation opportunity

Distressed holding with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 78). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -85% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 22.6y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 22.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

5 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

60 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £236,625

Very low cash

Cash position: £18

Net assets shrinking

Down £1,626 YoY

Cash draining

Cash down 85% YoY

Cash YoY

-85%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£18

↓ 85% YoY

Net Worth

£237k

~ YoY

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Cash	£18	£124
Net assets	£236.6k	£238.3k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 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

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 officers
• 1 persons-with-significant-control

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2026-03-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-10
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-03-10
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-03-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-21
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-02-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-11-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-01-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-10-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-03
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2004-03-12
➖
STEWART, Denis John resigned
director
2003-10-29
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
2003-10-07
➕
STEWART, Denis John appointed
director
2003-09-02
➕
BROWN, Gordon Robertson appointed
director
2003-09-02
➖
WISELY, Norman Sinclair resigned
director
2003-08-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As HERD HOLDINGS LIMITED
2003-08-28
➕
CAMERON, Derek Robert appointed
secretary
2003-08-28
➕
WISELY, Norman Sinclair appointed
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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — 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 78 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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 · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Gordon Robertson Brown Individual · British · DOB 08/1948 · age 78	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	28/08/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Holding company · AB postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
THE RUTLAND (EDINBURGH) LIMITED→ SC247306 · est 2003	£6.24M £5.31M–£7.18M	—	£6.24M	—	23y	82	77y
DIRECTIONAL DRILLING DYNAMICS LIMITED→ SC119569 · est 1989	£662.1k £562.8k–£761.4k	—	£662.1k	—	36y	81	74y
ABERDEEN MOTOR TRAWLERS LIMITED→ SC031156 · est 1955	£564.5k £479.8k–£649.1k	—	£564.5k	—	70y	80	77y
THE DON FISHING COMPANY (TRAWLING) LIMITED→ SC133042 · est 1991	£172.7k £146.8k–£198.6k	—	£172.7k	—	34y	82	77y
CULLEN HOUSE GARDENS LIMITED→ SC089719 · est 1984	£20.1k £17.1k–£23.1k	—	£20.1k	—	41y	81	86y
WOOD & DAVIDSON LIMITED→ SC004296 · est 1899	£11.3k £9.6k–£12.9k	—	£11.3k	—	127y	82	77y
ABERDEEN NEAR WATER TRAWLERS LIMITED→ SC033276 · est 1958	£11.2k £9.6k–£12.9k	—	£11.2k	—	67y	80	77y
LONDON SHETLAND SECURITIES LIMITED→ SC192120 · est 1998	£5.6k £4.8k–£6.5k	—	£5.6k	—	27y	82	69y
DON FISHING COMPANY (FRASERBURGH) LIMITED (THE)→ SC092365 · est 1985	£2.0k £1.7k–£2.3k	—	£2.0k	—	41y	82	77y
BANFFSHIRE FISHSELLING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC054512 · est 1973	£2 £2–£2	—	£2	—	52y	82	77y
ABERDEEN INSHORE ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC042022 · est 1965	£2 £2–£2	—	£2	—	61y	80	77y
INTEROCEAN GROUP SERVICES LIMITED→ SC484003 · est 2014	—	—	—	0	11y	94	63y

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

Incorporated2003-08-28

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC64209 — Activities of other holding companies n.e.c.

Registered office

308 Great Western Road

Aberdeen

AB10 6PL

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-11

Last: 2025-08-28

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

CAMERON, Derek Robert→

secretary · appointed 2003-08-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BROWN, Gordon Robertson→

director · ~78y · appointed 2003-09-02

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

STEWART, Denis John→

director · ~71y · appointed 2003-10-07 · resigned 2004-03-12

Resigned

WISELY, Norman Sinclair→

director · ~51y · appointed 2003-08-28 · resigned 2003-09-02

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Bond & floating charge	1 property	29/10/2003	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (60 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-03-25

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-03-10

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2026-03-10

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-09-15

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-03-14

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-10-08

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-12-20

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-08-31

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-01-06

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-09-21

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2022-09-21

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-02-10

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-09-04

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2021-01-07

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-09-29