4M TECHNOLOGY LTD

💤Zombieactive
04602935 · ltd · incorporated 2002-11-27
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 Nov 2024
Net worth
£-39.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other information technology service activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -97% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
55 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
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £39,820
Cash draining
Cash down 97% YoY
Cash YoY
-97%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£387
↓ 97% YoY
Net Worth
-£40k
↓ 110% YoY
Current Assets
£1k
↓ 94% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£40k-£28k-£17k-£5k£6k£18kNov 2023Nov 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-11-302023-11-30
Total assets£-39.8k£-19.0k
Current assets£1.1k£18.1k
Cash£387£14.9k
Debtors£752£3.2k
Net assets£-39.8k£-19.0k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-08-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-07-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-04-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2018-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-08-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-08-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-03-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2015-12-09
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-11-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2007-05-31
    ➖
    JACKSON, Ian John resigned
    director
  17. 2007-05-31
    ➖
    LEWIS, John Gerard resigned
    director
  18. 2007-05-31
    ➖
    PYCOCK, Howard resigned
    director
  19. 2002-11-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 4M TECHNOLOGY LTD
  20. 2002-11-27
    ➕
    HARGREAVES, John Kenneth appointed
    secretary
  21. 2002-11-27
    ➕
    HARGREAVES, John Kenneth appointed
    director
  22. 2002-11-27
    ➕
    JACKSON, Ian John appointed
    director
  23. 2002-11-27
    ➕
    LEWIS, John Gerard appointed
    director
  24. 2002-11-27
    ➕
    PYCOCK, Howard appointed
    director

Owner dependency

93/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

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 63. 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 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

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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Kenneth Hargreaves
Individual · British · DOB 03/1963 · age 63
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2002-11-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC62090 — Other information technology service activities

Registered office

48 Ringley Drive
Whitefield
Manchester
M45 7LR
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-07
Last: 2025-10-24

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

HARGREAVES, John Kenneth→
secretary · appointed 2002-11-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARGREAVES, John Kenneth→
director · ~63y · appointed 2002-11-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JACKSON, Ian John→
director · ~63y · appointed 2002-11-27 · resigned 2007-05-31
Resigned
LEWIS, John Gerard→
director · ~69y · appointed 2002-11-27 · resigned 2007-05-31
Resigned
PYCOCK, Howard→
director · ~51y · appointed 2002-11-27 · resigned 2007-05-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (55 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-27
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-04-01