GREAT NORTH LAUNDRY COMPANY LTD

💤Zombieactive
05481427 · ltd · incorporated 2005-06-15
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
£-47.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Washing and (dry-)cleaning of textile and fur products
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 75/100 (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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
57 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
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
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 £47,726
Cash YoY
+62%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£6k
↑ 62% YoY
Net Worth
-£48k
↑ 20% YoY
Current Assets
£82k
↑ 56% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£59k-£31k-£3k£26k£54k£82kJun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-06-282024-06-28
Total assets£-35.4k£-41.4k
Current assets£82.3k£52.7k
Cash£5.5k£3.4k
Debtors£71.8k£44.3k
Net assets£-47.7k£-59.3k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-03-27
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2024-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-03-28
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  6. 2023-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-04-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-05-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-02-15
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2018-01-26
    ➖
    BURN, Julia Marie resigned
    director
  14. 2017-08-23
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2017-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-09-05
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2016-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2012-03-09
    ➖
    GWA COSEC LTD resigned
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2010-10-01
    ➕
    BURN, Julia Marie appointed
    director
  20. 2006-06-14
    ➕
    BURN, Sacha Mitchell appointed
    director
  21. 2006-06-14
    ➕
    GWA COSEC LTD appointed
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2005-11-15
    ➖
    BURN, Margaret Laing resigned
    secretary
  23. 2005-11-15
    ➖
    BURN, Alan Gilbert resigned
    director
  24. 2005-06-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As GREAT NORTH LAUNDRY COMPANY LTD
  25. 2005-06-15
    ➕
    BURN, Margaret Laing appointed
    secretary
  26. 2005-06-15
    ➕
    BURN, Alan Gilbert appointed
    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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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 Sacha Mitchell Burn
Individual · British · DOB 07/1972 · age 54
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →
🔒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
Incorporated2005-06-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC96010 — Washing and (dry-)cleaning of textile and fur products

Registered office

19b Kings Mount
Ramparts Business Park North Road
Berwick Upon Tweed
TD15 1TQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-28
Last made up to: 2025-06-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-29
Last: 2025-06-15

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

BURN, Sacha Mitchell→
director · ~54y · appointed 2006-06-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BURN, Margaret Laing→
secretary · appointed 2005-06-15 · resigned 2005-11-15
Resigned
GWA COSEC LTD→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2006-06-14 · resigned 2012-03-09
Resigned
BURN, Alan Gilbert→
director · ~76y · appointed 2005-06-15 · resigned 2005-11-15
Resigned
BURN, Julia Marie→
director · ~56y · appointed 2010-10-01 · resigned 2018-01-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (57 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-27
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-20
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-02