ASTRONAUT SHELLFISH LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC421678 · ltd · incorporated 2012-04-11
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£107.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 03110
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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

2 live charges · oldest 13.9y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 13.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
30 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 · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £107,511

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£108k
↑ 6.5% YoY
Current Assets
£777
↓ 29% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£22k£43k£65k£86k£108kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£116.3k£119.8k
Current assets£777£1.1k
Net assets£107.5k£101.0k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

1 signal 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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-11-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-12-03
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  9. 2019-11-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  10. 2018-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-04-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-04-21
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2014-04-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2012-06-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  19. 2012-04-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASTRONAUT SHELLFISH LIMITED
  20. 2012-04-11
    ➕
    MACRAE, Ruairidh appointed
    director

Owner dependency

88/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 14 years.
  • 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Ruairidh Macrae
Individual · British · DOB 04/1964 · age 62
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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£9.6k
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£63.7k—2005y8447y
HEBRIDEAN SMOLTS LIMITED→
SC235174 · est 2002
——£500.7k—23y8259y
MACSWEEN'S DUNGANICHY LTD→
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——£212.1k—21y8271y
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SC253571 · est 2003
———10022y8268y
SCARISTAVORE CROFTING TRUST LIMITED→
SC195471 · est 1999
——£59.6k—27y8185y
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——£465.4k—11y8070y
D MACINNES ASSOCIATES LTD→
SC259251 · est 2003
——£23.2k—22y8073y
GAELTONE LIMITED→
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——£1.0k—20y8084y
JACAMAR FISHING LTD→
SC336198 · est 2008
——£24.5k—18y8062y
DAWN SHELLFISH LIMITED→
SC341117 · est 2008 · no financials extracted
————18y——
FEAR KNOT LTD→
SC880556 · est 2026 · no financials extracted
———————
MACIAIN LTD.→
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————49y——
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
Incorporated2012-04-11
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC03110 — SIC 03110

Registered office

25 Balallan
Lochs
Isle Of Lewis
HS2 9PN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-25
Last: 2025-04-11

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

MACRAE, Ruairidh→
director · ~62y · appointed 2012-04-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge1 property22/11/2019—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Floating charge1 property12/06/2012—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (30 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-23
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2019-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-04-16