DISTILL8 LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
06937907 · ltd · incorporated 2009-06-18
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
£67.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 11010
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). 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: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
43 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 declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £67,013
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£67k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£22
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-06-30 | 2024-06-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £22 | £22 |
| Current assets | £22 | £22 |
| Net assets | £67.0k | £67.0k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2026-03-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-03-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-07📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-03-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-03-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-07-16📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2016-03-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-07-10📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-03-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2009-06-18🏢Company incorporatedAs DISTILL8 LIMITED
- 2009-06-18➕SMITH, Christopher Stephen appointeddirector
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 67 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 17 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
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 67. 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 Chris Smith Individual · British · DOB 09/1959 · age 67 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 14/06/2017 |
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 · Food & drink · HD postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B WHITE BAKERY LTD→ 16460794 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BEDALES OF YORKSHIRE LIMITED→ 13296365 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| BIG RUDE FOOD LTD→ 12893013 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| BOLD BAKING CO LTD→ 16327515 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BOLD OATS CO LTD→ 16324536 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CAKE BAKERY LTD→ 11119855 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| DANELAW COFFEE ROASTING LTD→ 13994931 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| DVF PRODUCTS LIMITED→ 09211251 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| EDEN GARDEN FOODS LIMITED→ 12540279 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| EDGEHILL EMPIRE LTD→ 16255756 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| EMPIRE BREWING LTD→ 08468352 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| EXCLUSIVE INFUSIONS LIMITED→ 16781722 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2009-06-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC11010 — SIC 11010
Registered office
8 St Paul's Road
Huddersfield
HD5 0EX
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last: 2026-06-16
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
SMITH, Christopher Stephen→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2009-06-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (43 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-07-12