AGROCHEMEX LTD

💤Zombieactive
03945408 · ltd · incorporated 2000-03-10
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
£1.56M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Technical testing and analysis
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 25.9y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 25.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
68 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,557,740
Cash YoY
+35%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£225k
↑ 35% YoY
Net Worth
£1.6m
~ YoY
Current Assets
£799k
↑ 8.2% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£312k£623k£935k£1.2m£1.6mSept 2024Sept 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-09-302024-09-30
Total assets£2.40M£2.32M
Current assets£799.1k£738.3k
Cash£225.1k£167.3k
Debtors£574.1k£571.0k
Net assets£1.56M£1.54M

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-06-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-03-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2023-05-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-06-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-04-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-04-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-04-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2003-01-07
    ➕
    GAMBLIN, Lesley Anne appointed
    secretary
  17. 2003-01-07
    ➖
    HARRAGAN, Christine Margaret resigned
    secretary
  18. 2000-08-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
  19. 2000-07-31
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
  20. 2000-03-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AGROCHEMEX LTD
  21. 2000-03-10
    ➕
    GAMBLIN, Alan William appointed
    director
  22. 2000-03-10
    ➕
    HARRAGAN, Christine Margaret appointed
    secretary
  23. 2000-03-10
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2000-03-10
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

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 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — 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 70 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 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alan William Gamblin
Individual · British · DOB 02/1956 · age 70
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016
Ms Lesley Anne Gamblin
Individual · British · DOB 11/1957 · age 69
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016

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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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
Incorporated2000-03-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71200 — Technical testing and analysis

Registered office

Beckwith Barn Warren Estate
Lordship Road
Writtle
Essex
CM1 3WT
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-24
Last: 2026-03-10

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

GAMBLIN, Lesley Anne→
secretary · appointed 2003-01-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GAMBLIN, Alan William→
director · ~70y · appointed 2000-03-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARRAGAN, Christine Margaret→
secretary · appointed 2000-03-10 · resigned 2003-01-07
Resigned
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-03-10 · resigned 2000-03-10
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
Mortgage1 property18/08/2000—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
Debenture1 property31/07/2000—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (68 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-06-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-10