3D PLANT AND MACHINERY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
02820226 · ltd · incorporated 1993-05-21
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 May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). 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 (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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
6 officers (1 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
89 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Average employees1100

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 (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-05-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2024-05-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2024-05-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2024-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-04-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2023-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-02-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-05-18
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2021-02-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-01-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-10-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-04-13
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  15. 2018-04-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2017-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2010-05-21
    ➖
    LANGFORD, Jillian resigned
    secretary
  18. 2003-03-20
    ➕
    LANGFORD, Graham James appointed
    director
  19. 2003-03-20
    ➖
    DONALD, Linda resigned
    secretary
  20. 2003-03-20
    ➕
    LANGFORD, Jillian appointed
    secretary
  21. 2003-03-20
    ➖
    DONALD, Ian David resigned
    director
  22. 1993-05-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 3D PLANT AND MACHINERY LIMITED
  23. 1993-05-21
    ➕
    DONALD, Linda appointed
    secretary
  24. 1993-05-21
    ➕
    SECRETARIES BY DESIGN LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1993-05-21
    ➖
    SECRETARIES BY DESIGN LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 1993-05-21
    ➕
    DONALD, Ian David appointed
    director
  27. 1993-05-21
    ➕
    NOMINEES BY DESIGN LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  28. 1993-05-21
    ➖
    NOMINEES BY DESIGN LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-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 72 — 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 72 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 33 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Graham James Langford
Individual · British · DOB 07/1954 · age 72
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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4DR ARCHITECTURAL SOLUTIONS LTD→
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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
Incorporated1993-05-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC77390 — Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods n.e.c.

Registered office

Azets
Ventura Park Road
Tamworth
Staffordshire
B78 3HL
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-04
Last: 2025-05-21

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

LANGFORD, Graham James→
director · ~72y · appointed 2003-03-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DONALD, Linda→
secretary · appointed 1993-05-21 · resigned 2003-03-20
Resigned
LANGFORD, Jillian→
secretary · appointed 2003-03-20 · resigned 2010-05-21
Resigned
SECRETARIES BY DESIGN LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1993-05-21 · resigned 1993-05-21
Resigned
DONALD, Ian David→
director · ~80y · appointed 1993-05-21 · resigned 2003-03-20
Resigned
NOMINEES BY DESIGN LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1993-05-21 · resigned 1993-05-21
Resigned

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

Recent filings (89 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-10-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-22
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-05-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-05-22
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-05-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-25
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-04
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-05-18