BALFERN HOLDINGS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC530605 · ltd · incorporated 2016-03-23
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 Mar 2026
Net worth
£-20.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Construction of commercial buildings
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. 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).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (76/100)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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
25 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £20,020
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£20k
↓ 12182% YoY
Current Assets
£13k
↓ 3.0% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2026-03-31 | 2025-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-20.0k | £-163 |
| Current assets | £12.6k | £13.0k |
| Net assets | £-20.0k | £-163 |
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
5
filings
- • 2 officers
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
5
filings
- • 2 officers
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2026-02-19➖MOOREFIELD MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY LIMITED resignedcorporate-secretary
- 2026-02-19📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2026-02-19📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2026-02-19📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2025-05-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-04📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-05-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-04-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-05-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-03-23🏢Company incorporatedAs BALFERN HOLDINGS LIMITED
- 2016-03-23➕ACHESON, Steven Calder appointeddirector
- 2016-03-23➕MOOREFIELD MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY LIMITED appointedcorporate-secretary
- 2016-03-23📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
83/100
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.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
60/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- 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.)
Shareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Steven Calder Acheson Individual · British · DOB 07/1966 · age 60 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Construction · DG postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BELL LAWRIE OF BIGGAR (DEVELOPMENTS) LIMITED→ SC099927 · est 1986 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 39y | — | — |
| BLADUM ROUGHCASTERS LTD→ SC840498 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BORDER HOMES LTD→ SC388242 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| BRC CONSTRUCTION LIMITED→ SC832511 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BUILDING FUTURES GALLOWAY (TRAINING) LIMITED→ SC741111 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| CONSENSUS MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ SC207701 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| CRJ CONSTRUCTION & JOINERY LIMITED→ SC640505 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| D W CONSTRUCTION AND JOINERY LIMITED→ SC262529 · est 2004 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| DAES CIVILS LIMITED→ SC798291 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| DALZIEL PLUMBING & HEATING LIMITED→ SC592356 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| DAVID CAMPBELL DECORATORS LIMITED→ SC698561 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| DAVID HARDIE ENGINEERING LTD.→ SC162759 · est 1996 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 30y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2016-03-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC41201 — Construction of commercial buildings
Registered office
Meadowbank Cottage
Wigtown
Newton Stewart
Dumfries & Galloway
DG8 9DJ
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-12-31
Last made up to: 2026-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-05
Last: 2026-03-22
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
ACHESON, Steven Calder→
Activedirector · ~60y · appointed 2016-03-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
MOOREFIELD MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-secretary · appointed 2016-03-23 · resigned 2026-02-19
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (25 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-04-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-22
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-02-19
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-02-19
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2026-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-22
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-05-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-23