ARCTIC DISCOVERY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03681468 · ltd · incorporated 1998-12-10
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£16.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other information service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 78). 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
7 officers (1 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
73 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £16,728

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£17k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£4
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£3k£7k£10k£13k£17kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£16.7k£16.7k
Current assets£4£4
Net assets£16.7k£16.7k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  3. 2024-12-02
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  4. 2024-02-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-08-01
    ➖
    STEELE, Anne Elizabeth resigned
    secretary
  7. 2023-08-01
    ➖
    STEELE, Anne Elizabeth resigned
    director
  8. 2022-11-28
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2022-11-24
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  10. 2022-03-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-09-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-06-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-12-06
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  16. 2017-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2005-04-01
    ➖
    FORSMAN, Monica Elisabeth resigned
    director
  18. 2005-04-01
    ➖
    FORSMAN, Tage Esbjorn resigned
    director
  19. 1998-12-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARCTIC DISCOVERY LIMITED
  20. 1998-12-10
    ➕
    STEELE, Richard Douglas appointed
    director
  21. 1998-12-10
    ➕
    STEELE, Anne Elizabeth appointed
    secretary
  22. 1998-12-10
    ➕
    WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 1998-12-10
    ➖
    WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1998-12-10
    ➕
    FORSMAN, Monica Elisabeth appointed
    director
  25. 1998-12-10
    ➕
    FORSMAN, Tage Esbjorn appointed
    director
  26. 1998-12-10
    ➕
    STEELE, Anne Elizabeth appointed
    director
  27. 1998-12-10
    ➕
    WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  28. 1998-12-10
    ➖
    WATERLOW NOMINEES 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 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — 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 78 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 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Richard Douglas Steele
Individual · British · DOB 07/1948 · age 78
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting05/11/2017
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Richard Douglas Steeleceased 01/11/2022· 25-50% shares

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

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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
Incorporated1998-12-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC63990 — Other information service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Second Floor Ramsden House
121 Duke Street
Barrow-In-Furness
Cumbria
LA14 1XA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-12
Last: 2025-11-28

Officers (1 active · 6 resigned)

STEELE, Richard Douglas→
director · ~78y · appointed 1998-12-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STEELE, Anne Elizabeth→
secretary · appointed 1998-12-10 · resigned 2023-08-01
Resigned
WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-12-10 · resigned 1998-12-10
Resigned
FORSMAN, Monica Elisabeth→
director · ~68y · appointed 1998-12-10 · resigned 2005-04-01
Resigned
FORSMAN, Tage Esbjorn→
director · ~91y · appointed 1998-12-10 · resigned 2005-04-01
Resigned
STEELE, Anne Elizabeth→
director · ~65y · appointed 1998-12-10 · resigned 2023-08-01
Resigned
WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-12-10 · resigned 1998-12-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (73 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-11
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-12-02
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-12-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-01
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-11-28
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-30