ADVANCED UTILITY SOLUTIONS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
05819799 · ltd · incorporated 2006-05-17
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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 (78/100)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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
53 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.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 800 | 600 |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-23📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-06-23📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-06-23📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-03-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-10-10📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2017-10-10📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2017-07-03📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2017-07-03📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2006-05-17🏢Company incorporatedAs ADVANCED UTILITY SOLUTIONS LIMITED
- 2006-05-17➕RICHARDS, Nicola appointedsecretary
- 2006-05-17➕RICHARDS, Gary appointeddirector
Owner dependency
98/100
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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
- +No director turnover: Company is 20 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
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 60. 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 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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 Gary Richards Individual · British · DOB 06/1966 · age 60 | 50–75% | 50–75% | board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control | 30/06/2016 |
Mrs Nicola Jane Richards Individual · British · DOB 12/1972 · age 54 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 30/06/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Trade services · TS postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A & C MCCALLUM WP LTD→ 15910535 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACCESS UK GROUP LTD→ 16315103 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACOBRAY SECURITY LTD→ 15985615 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACTES TRUST→ 04345294 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| ACTIVE BALANCE CONSULTANCY (NE) LIMITED→ 11196554 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ADB ACCOUNTING SOLUTIONS LTD→ 10046700 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| ADGH CONTRACTS LIMITED→ 09216378 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ADIS (NE) LTD→ 09259974 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ADVANCED CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY LIMITED→ 09916831 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| ADVANCED MATERIAL HANDLING LIMITED→ 06995858 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| ADVANCED WIND TRAINING ACADEMY LTD→ 13859865 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ADYAN BARBER LTD→ 15618641 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2006-05-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Registered office
9 Carcut Road
Lawson Industrial Estate
Middlesbrough
TS3 6QL
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-09
Last: 2025-06-25
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
Active
RICHARDS, Gary→
Activedirector · ~60y · appointed 2006-05-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (53 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-30
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-06-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-06-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-06-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-25