COTSWOLD RECYCLING COMPANY LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04268006 · ltd · incorporated 2001-08-09
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 2025
Net worth
£2.59M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 39000
Sector: Water supply & waste
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 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 · 2 lenders · oldest 18.2y
30/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 18.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (77/100)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, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
65 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 declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £2,588,926
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£2.6m
↑ 9.6% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £4.35M | £4.18M |
| Current assets | — | £335.2k |
| Debtors | £459.3k | £335.2k |
| Net assets | £2.59M | £2.36M |
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 address
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 address
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 address
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
- 2026-06-22📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2026-03-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-03-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-28📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2018-08-28📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2017-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-06-26📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2016-09-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2013-04-19🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Rbs Invoice Finance Limited
- 2009-05-01➖FINCH, Paul resigneddirector
- 2008-04-30🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2001-08-09🏢Company incorporatedAs COTSWOLD RECYCLING COMPANY LIMITED
- 2001-08-09➕COOPER, Emma appointedsecretary
- 2001-08-09➕COOPER, Richard appointeddirector
- 2001-08-09➕BRISTOL LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2001-08-09➖BRISTOL LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2001-08-09➕FINCH, Paul appointeddirector
Owner dependency
93/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
85/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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
cleanNo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Richard Cooper Individual · British · DOB 06/1964 · age 62 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Emma Cooper Individual · British · DOB 05/1974 · age 52 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| CHILLER TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 04213194 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
7 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
Incorporated2001-08-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC39000 — SIC 39000
Registered office
Corporate House 77 Portview Road
Avonmouth
Bristol
BS11 9JE
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-23
Last: 2025-08-09
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
Active
COOPER, Richard→
Activedirector · ~62y · appointed 2001-08-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BRISTOL LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-08-09 · resigned 2001-08-09
FINCH, Paul→
Resigneddirector · ~63y · appointed 2001-08-09 · resigned 2009-05-01
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | NatWest Group Rbs Invoice Finance Limited | A registered charge | 1 property | 19/04/2013 | — | |
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 30/04/2008 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (65 total)
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-06-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-09-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-09-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-13