BLACK LAB NORTON LTD

💤Zombieactive
08603957 · ltd · incorporated 2013-07-10
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 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other activities auxiliary to financial services, except insurance and pension funding
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: 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 (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
43 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
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
82
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
£53k
↑ 4.7% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£11k£21k£32k£42k£53kJul 2023Jul 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-07-312023-07-31
Total assets£59.4k£77.1k
Current assets£52.6k£50.3k

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
1
filing
  • 1 address
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 address
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-10-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-10-15
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  4. 2025-10-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2025-08-22
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  6. 2025-08-22
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  7. 2025-08-22
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  8. 2025-08-22
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2025-07-20
    HOUGHTON, Matthew James appointed
    director
  10. 2025-07-20
    LOCK, Andrew Stephen resigned
    director
  11. 2025-06-25
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2025-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2024-07-04
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2024-07-04
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  15. 2024-07-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2024-07-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  17. 2024-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2023-09-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  19. 2023-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  20. 2022-03-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  21. 2021-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  22. 2013-07-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BLACK LAB NORTON LTD
  23. 2013-07-10
    LOCK, Andrew Stephen appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 low
Multiple registered office changes
low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Group structure

Rolo Advisory Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Rolo Advisory Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
BLACK LAB NORTON LTD
This company · 08603957

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Rolo Advisory Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting20/07/2025
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Andrew Stephen Lockceased 20/07/2025· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control

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
Incorporated2013-07-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC66190 — Other activities auxiliary to financial services, except insurance and pension funding

Registered office

C/O Tc Thompson Taraz Rand Suite 20, New Cambridge House
Bassingbourn Road
Litlington
Cambridgeshire
SG8 0SS
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-26
Last: 2025-08-12

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

HOUGHTON, Matthew James
director · ~40y · appointed 2025-07-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LOCK, Andrew Stephen
director · ~67y · appointed 2013-07-10 · resigned 2025-07-20
Resigned

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

Recent filings (43 total)

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-04-24
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-10-15
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2025-10-15
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-10-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-22
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-08-22
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2025-08-22
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-08-22
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-08-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-10
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-07-04
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-07-04