ADVANCED WATER SOFTENERS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04739672 · ltd · incorporated 2003-04-18

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 Apr 2025

Net worth

£3.8k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 36000

Sector: Water supply & waste

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

43220Plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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 (75/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

55 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £3,790

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£4k

↑ 859% YoY

Current Assets

£28k

↓ 1.4% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Total assets	£25.5k	£29.6k
Current assets	£27.7k	£28.1k
Net assets	£3.8k	£395

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 persons-with-significant-control

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 persons-with-significant-control

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2026-03-20
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC08
2025-10-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-10-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-08-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-07-13
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2016-05-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-07-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2003-04-19
➕
SMITH, Lucy Mary appointed
secretary
2003-04-19
➕
SMITH, Mark Anthony appointed
director
2003-04-19
➖
ACCORD SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2003-04-19
➖
ACCORD DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
corporate-director
2003-04-18
🏢
Company incorporated
As ADVANCED WATER SOFTENERS LIMITED
2003-04-18
➕
ACCORD SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2003-04-18
➕
ACCORD DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
corporate-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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Mark Anthony Smith Individual · British · DOB 06/1968 · age 58	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	18/04/2017

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

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A TO B TRANSPORTATION LTD→ 16596775 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
A TO B WASTE MANAGEMENT LTD→ 16085765 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
A.S INDUSTRIES LTD→ 13312118 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
A&G SHIRLEY LTD→ 09011645 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
ABBEY GRAB BAG LTD→ 13504387 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
ACCOLADE PROJECT LTD→ 11868404 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
ACE LIFTAWAY LIMITED→ 04297480 · est 2001 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	24y	—	—
ACTIVE POWWR LTD→ 16105177 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ALL CHASE SERVICES LTD→ 14024651 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
ALLSEAL CLEANING SERVICES LIMITED→ 09445911 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—

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

Incorporated2003-04-18

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC36000 — SIC 36000

Registered office

144 Cranbourne Park

Hedge End

Southampton

Hampshire

SO30 0NZ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-06

Last: 2026-04-22

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

SMITH, Lucy Mary→

secretary · appointed 2003-04-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SMITH, Mark Anthony→

director · ~58y · appointed 2003-04-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ACCORD SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2003-04-18 · resigned 2003-04-19

Resigned

ACCORD DIRECTORS LIMITED→

corporate-director · appointed 2003-04-18 · resigned 2003-04-19

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

2026-04-22

notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement

persons-with-significant-control · PSC08

2026-03-20