HORNBY'S DRAINAGE LTD

💤Zombieactive
09433274 · ltd · incorporated 2015-02-11
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£49
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 39000
Sector: Water supply & waste
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, 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: medium (77/100)

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
33 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £49

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£49
↑ 20% YoY
Current Assets
£103k
↑ 35% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£21k£41k£62k£83k£103kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£11.0k£21.1k
Current assets£103.5k£76.7k
Net assets£49£41

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-12-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2023-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-16
    ➖
    HORNBY, Janet resigned
    secretary
  8. 2021-11-16
    ➖
    CROSS, Tony resigned
    director
  9. 2021-11-16
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  10. 2021-11-16
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  11. 2021-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-07-03
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  14. 2019-06-25
    ➕
    CROSS, Tony appointed
    director
  15. 2019-06-24
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  16. 2019-06-20
    ➖
    CROSS, Tony resigned
    director
  17. 2019-06-20
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  18. 2019-06-19
    ➕
    HORNBY, Thomas James appointed
    director
  19. 2018-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  20. 2018-03-09
    ➕
    HORNBY, Janet appointed
    secretary
  21. 2018-03-09
    ➕
    CROSS, Tony appointed
    director
  22. 2018-03-09
    ➖
    HORNBY, Thomas James resigned
    director
  23. 2018-03-09
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  24. 2018-03-09
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  25. 2018-03-09
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  26. 2015-02-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HORNBY'S DRAINAGE LTD
  27. 2015-02-11
    ➕
    HORNBY, Thomas James appointed
    director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "HORNBY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

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.

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 Thomas James Hornby
Individual · British · DOB 04/1959 · age 67
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/01/2017

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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LANCASHIRE WASTE RECYCLING LIMITED→
07383636 · est 2010
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——2615y8262y
ENVIROFUEL (SRF) LTD→
07732679 · est 2011
£998.1k
£718.6k–£1.28M
——2514y8262y
M J TEALE PLANT HIRE LIMITED→
04996274 · est 2003 · no financials extracted
————22y8275y
A1 SKIP HIRE LTD→
04497328 · est 2002
——£1.02M—23y8061y
ALLCOOL (N.W.) LIMITED→
07419927 · est 2010
——£793.5k—15y8059y
BLACKPOOL SKIP HIRE LIMITED→
04637688 · est 2003 · no financials extracted
————23y8075y
FROST DESIGN ASSOCIATES LIMITED→
04675240 · est 2003
———-10023y8063y
INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES AUTOMATION SERVICES LTD→
13139245 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
————5y——
J & F DRAINAGE LIMITED→
08916021 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
————12y——
JACKSON SKIP & RECYCLING LIMITED→
05772766 · est 2006 · no financials extracted
————20y——
KEARON EXPORT-IMPORT LTD→
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————15y——
LANZHERON LTD→
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————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
Incorporated2015-02-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC39000 — SIC 39000

Registered office

5 Crescent East
Thornton Cleveleys
Lancashire
FY5 3LJ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-30
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-25
Last: 2026-02-11

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

HORNBY, Thomas James→
director · ~67y · appointed 2019-06-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HORNBY, Janet→
secretary · appointed 2018-03-09 · resigned 2021-11-16
Resigned
CROSS, Tony→
director · ~61y · appointed 2019-06-25 · resigned 2021-11-16
Resigned
CROSS, Tony→
director · ~61y · appointed 2018-03-09 · resigned 2019-06-20
Resigned
HORNBY, Thomas James→
director · ~67y · appointed 2015-02-11 · resigned 2018-03-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (33 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-13
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-21
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-11-16
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2021-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-04