3RD HOUR LIMITED

🚨Distressedactive
09452414 · ltd · incorporated 2015-02-21
Investment thesis
Attractive distress candidate — real problems but workable structure.
Why interesting: Falling signals but no deal-breakers yet; room for negotiation and turnaround.
Why risky: Signals worsening; needs speed and capital discipline.
🔒Estimated value
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Turnover
year to Jun 2024
Net worth
£-4.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
59/100
Worth a look
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 21100
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed admin-neglect survivor — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 59/100 (worth a look), bankability 45/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100). Current lenders should be on monthly review.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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 (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
22 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
59/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
45
Concerning — overdue filings or status flags present.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
49
Multiple red flags — proceed with caution.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £4,091
Very low cash
Cash position: £93
Cash YoY
+933%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£93
↑ 933% YoY
Net Worth
-£4k
↓ 200% YoY
Current Assets
£7k
↓ 27% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£4k-£1k£1k£4k£7k£10kJun 2023Jun 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-06-302023-06-30
Total assets£-2.1k£1.2k
Current assets£7.2k£9.9k
Cash£93£9
Debtors£2.8k£3.6k
Net assets£-4.1k£-1.4k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (16 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-05-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-02-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-02-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-11-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-09-07
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  12. 2016-03-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2015-02-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 3RD HOUR LIMITED
  14. 2015-02-21
    DOUGLAS-BELL, Adrian appointed
    director
  15. 2015-02-21
    DOUGLAS-BELL, Stephanie appointed
    director
  16. 2015-02-21
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

86/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

66/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.

Red flags

2 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-03-31

Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-03-07

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Adrian Douglas-Bell
Individual · British · DOB 03/1959 · age 67
2550%
25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mrs Stephanie Douglas-Bell
Individual · British · DOB 08/1953 · age 73
2550%
25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

10 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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2015-02-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC21100 — SIC 21100

Registered office

31 Victoria Road
Darlington
DL1 5SB
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-03-31OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2024-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-03-07OVERDUE
Last: 2025-02-21

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

DOUGLAS-BELL, Adrian
director · ~67y · appointed 2015-02-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DOUGLAS-BELL, Stephanie
director · ~73y · appointed 2015-02-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (22 total)

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-09-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-03-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-02-08