BUCKNOWLE SERVICES LTD

💤Zombieactive
04516966 · ltd · incorporated 2002-08-22
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 Oct 2024
Net worth
£191.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

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
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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
71 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
77
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 £191,333

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£191k
↑ 20% YoY
Current Assets
£201k
↑ 22% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£40k£80k£121k£161k£201kOct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31
Total assets£192.1k£168.5k
Current assets£200.9k£164.9k
Cash—£142.0k
Debtors—£21.4k
Net assets£191.3k£159.8k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-21
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  2. 2025-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-11-15
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  4. 2024-11-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2024-11-01
    ➖
    MKL SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  6. 2024-07-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-05-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-05-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-03-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-08-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2018-05-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-08-02
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2017-04-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-10-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  17. 2005-08-31
    ➖
    WOODWORTH, Barry resigned
    secretary
  18. 2005-08-31
    ➕
    MKL SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2005-08-31
    ➖
    WOODWORTH, Barry resigned
    director
  20. 2005-01-12
    ➕
    WOODWORTH, Barry appointed
    director
  21. 2002-08-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BUCKNOWLE SERVICES LTD
  22. 2002-08-22
    ➕
    LUCAS, Russell appointed
    director
  23. 2002-08-22
    ➕
    HARRISON, Irene Lesley appointed
    nominee-secretary
  24. 2002-08-22
    ➖
    HARRISON, Irene Lesley resigned
    nominee-secretary
  25. 2002-08-22
    ➕
    WOODWORTH, Barry appointed
    secretary
  26. 2002-08-22
    ➕
    BUSINESS INFORMATION RESEARCH & REPORTING LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  27. 2002-08-22
    ➖
    BUSINESS INFORMATION RESEARCH & REPORTING LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

85/100
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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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

1 med ·
Name changed recently
medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2025-11-21: certificate-change-of-name-company

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Russell Lucas
Individual · British · DOB 07/1969 · age 57
75–100%
—sig. influence75-100% shares · significant influence06/04/2016

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

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 →
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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
Incorporated2002-08-22
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

7 Filleul Road
Wareham
BH20 7AW
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-21
Last: 2026-04-07

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

LUCAS, Russell→
director · ~57y · appointed 2002-08-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARRISON, Irene Lesley→
nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-08-22 · resigned 2002-08-22
Resigned
WOODWORTH, Barry→
secretary · appointed 2002-08-22 · resigned 2005-08-31
Resigned
MKL SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2005-08-31 · resigned 2024-11-01
Resigned
WOODWORTH, Barry→
director · ~58y · appointed 2005-01-12 · resigned 2005-08-31
Resigned
BUSINESS INFORMATION RESEARCH & REPORTING LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-08-22 · resigned 2002-08-22
Resigned

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

Recent filings (71 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-07
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2025-11-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-02
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-11-15
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-11-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-26