1ST DEFENCE LOCKSMITHS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
10114645 · ltd · incorporated 2016-04-10
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£2.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
26 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
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
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 £2,155
Net assets shrinking
Down £1,366 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£2k
↓ 39% YoY
Current Assets
£18k
↑ 8.5% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£4k£7k£11k£15k£18kMar 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£14.9k£11.9k
Current assets£18.3k£16.9k
Net assets£2.2k£3.5k

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 (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-04-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-04-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-05-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-05-16
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  10. 2018-02-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2017-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-10-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2016-09-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2016-09-02
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  15. 2016-04-21
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  16. 2016-04-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 1ST DEFENCE LOCKSMITHS LIMITED
  17. 2016-04-10
    ➕
    GATENBY, Benjamin appointed
    director
  18. 2016-04-10
    ➕
    ST CLAIR, Maxim appointed
    director
  19. 2016-04-10
    ➖
    ST CLAIR, Maxim resigned
    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

50/100
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.
  • 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 Benjamin Gatenby
Individual · British · DOB 08/1986 · age 40
75–100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence10/04/2016

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
Incorporated2016-04-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Dale House 64 Fink Hill
Horsforth
Leeds
LS18 4DH
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-19
Last: 2025-09-05

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

GATENBY, Benjamin→
director · ~40y · appointed 2016-04-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ST CLAIR, Maxim→
director · ~34y · appointed 2016-04-10 · resigned 2016-04-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (26 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-05-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-09-07