FAIRBAIRN TRAWLING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC540565 · ltd · incorporated 2016-07-19
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 Jul 2024
Net worth
£20
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 03110
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 80). 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 (79/100)

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, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
31 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
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)
Positive net assets
Net assets £20

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£20
~ YoY
Current Assets
£20
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£4£8£12£16£20Jul 2023Jul 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-07-312023-07-31
Total assets£20£20
Current assets£20£20
Net assets£20£20

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-08-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2021-08-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2021-08-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2021-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-09-17
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2020-09-17
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2020-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-04-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2020-01-24
    FAIRBAIRN, Jean Alfreda resigned
    director
  14. 2019-07-30
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2019-07-30
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  16. 2019-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2019-04-29
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  18. 2018-08-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  19. 2016-07-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FAIRBAIRN TRAWLING LIMITED
  20. 2016-07-19
    FAIRBAIRN, David James appointed
    director
  21. 2016-07-19
    FAIRBAIRN, Jean Alfreda 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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "FAIRBAIRN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
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 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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 David James Fairbairn
Individual · British · DOB 07/1946 · age 80
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting19/07/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Jean Alfreda Fairbairnceased 24/01/2020· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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
Incorporated2016-07-19
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC03110 — SIC 03110

Registered office

Wasbister Farm
South Ronaldsay
Orkney
KW17 2RJ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-01
Last: 2025-07-18

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

FAIRBAIRN, David James
director · ~80y · appointed 2016-07-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FAIRBAIRN, Jean Alfreda
director · ~77y · appointed 2016-07-19 · resigned 2020-01-24
Resigned

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

Recent filings (31 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-03
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-08-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-08-03
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-08-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-17
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-09-17