ATC-INNOVATION LTD
💤Zombieactive
06818917 · ltd · incorporated 2009-02-13
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 Feb 2026
Net worth
£-16.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
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 (83/100, director aged 65). 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 (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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
45 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 declaredNegative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £16,669
Cash YoY
+369%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£591
↑ 369% YoY
Net Worth
-£17k
↓ 24% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2026-02-28 | 2025-02-28 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | £591 | £126 |
| Net assets | £-16.7k | £-13.5k |
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
2
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-06-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-17📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-02-17📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-08-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-10📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2022-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-02📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-02-12➖PIZI, Fiorenza resignedsecretary
- 2021-01-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-02-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2009-02-13🏢Company incorporatedAs ATC-INNOVATION LTD
- 2009-02-13➕PALMER, John appointeddirector
- 2009-02-13➕PIZI, Fiorenza appointedsecretary
Owner dependency
100/100
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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
88/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr John Palmer Individual · British · DOB 12/1961 · age 65 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Professional services · SP postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARKTOS BUSINESS CONSULTING LIMITED→ 15844718 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ARWAL LTD→ 15122301 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ASP CONSULTING LTD→ 16198560 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ASSISI BOOKKEEPING LTD→ 12258732 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ASSUAGE SERVICES LIMITED→ 11366756 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ASSURANCE CONSULTANCY LTD→ 12224519 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ATHENA INTELLIGENCE LIMITED→ 14594901 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ATLAS PLANNING GROUP LTD→ 11088344 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ATOM AFFILIATES LIMITED→ 16939439 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AUDIT FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 16246841 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AURUMGENTE LTD→ 16240702 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AUSTIN AUTOMOTIVE LTD→ 12831290 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
8 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
Incorporated2009-02-13
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Registered office
Hitchcock House Hilltop Park
Devizes Road
Salisbury
SP3 4UF
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-11-30
Last made up to: 2026-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-27
Last: 2026-02-13
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
PALMER, John→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2009-02-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
PIZI, Fiorenza→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2009-02-13 · resigned 2021-02-12
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (45 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-05-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-10
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-02-17
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-02-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-16
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-03-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-03