17 SIGNALS LTD

💤Zombieactive
08351182 · ltd · incorporated 2013-01-08
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Security dealing on own account
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

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
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
37 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£20£40£60£80£100Jan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£100
Current assets£100
Net assets£100
Average employees0

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
3
filings
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 officers
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-10
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  2. 2025-12-09
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-10-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-02-13
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2025-01-14
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2025-01-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2025-01-02
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  8. 2024-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2023-11-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2023-01-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2022-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-06-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-08-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-03-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2013-01-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 17 SIGNALS LTD
  18. 2013-01-08
    FREEMAN, Darrell appointed
    director

Owner dependency

80/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
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 13 years.
  • 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 Darrell Freeman
Individual · British · DOB 06/1984 · age 42
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control08/01/2017

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 →

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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
Incorporated2013-01-08
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64991 — Security dealing on own account

Registered office

8 Helix Business Park
New Bridge Road
Ellesmere Port
CH65 4LR
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-22
Last: 2026-01-08

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

FREEMAN, Darrell
director · ~42y · appointed 2013-01-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (37 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-12-10
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-13
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-02-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-01-14
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-01-14
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2025-01-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-20
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-21