ADVANCED DIVE ELECTRONICS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

03535453 · ltd · incorporated 1998-03-26

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 Aug 2025

Net worth

£26.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 26400

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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 (75/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

72 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £26,359

Net assets shrinking

Down £10,513 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£26k

↓ 29% YoY

Current Assets

£35k

↓ 11% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-08-31	2024-08-31
Total assets	£26.4k	£36.9k
Current assets	£34.6k	£39.0k
Net assets	£26.4k	£36.9k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 address

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 address

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2026-04-03
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-09-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-09-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-09-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-09-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-07
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-04-07
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2016-04-07
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2015-10-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
1998-03-26
🏢
Company incorporated
As ADVANCED DIVE ELECTRONICS LIMITED
1998-03-26
➕
HESTER, Lynne Theresa appointed
secretary
1998-03-26
➕
HESTER, Nigel Ian appointed
director
1998-03-26
➕
ON LINE REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1998-03-26
➖
ON LINE REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1998-03-26
➕
ON LINE FORMATIONS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
1998-03-26
➖
ON LINE FORMATIONS 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 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Lynne Hester Individual · British · DOB 05/1960 · age 66	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	07/04/2016
Mr Nigel Ian Hester Individual · British · DOB 11/1961 · age 65	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	07/04/2016

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

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104+ LTD→ 15277266 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
A & M REPAIRS LIMITED→ 04704298 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
A.J.S AGRI LTD→ 15638721 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
A.R.V. AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING LIMITED→ 04830574 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
ABBEY ELECTRICAL YEOVIL LIMITED→ 07547425 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
ACE FIBREGLASS (SHERBORNE) LIMITED→ 07839948 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
ACKERMAN ENGINEERING LIMITED→ 01263820 · est 1976 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	49y	—	—
AF CURTIS LTD→ 13847219 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
AGATE MATERIAL HANDLING LTD→ 14842595 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
AGV RETAIL LIMITED→ 07499344 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
AJMINING LTD→ 12567005 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
ALEX POLE LTD→ 12871342 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1998-03-26

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC26400 — SIC 26400

Registered office

Knights In The Bottom

Hooke

Beaminster

DT8 3PG

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-17

Last: 2026-04-03

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

HESTER, Lynne Theresa→

secretary · appointed 1998-03-26

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HESTER, Nigel Ian→

director · ~65y · appointed 1998-03-26

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ON LINE REGISTRARS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-03-26 · resigned 1998-03-26

Resigned

ON LINE FORMATIONS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-03-26 · resigned 1998-03-26

Resigned

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

Recent filings (72 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-04-03

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

address · AD01

2026-04-03