ARTISAN MECHATRONICS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

10172706 · ltd · incorporated 2016-05-10

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

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Engineering design activities for industrial process and production

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 80). 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 (57/100)

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

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

23 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 officers

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 officers

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (15 events)Click to expand

2026-05-13
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-06-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-03-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-02-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-06-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-02-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-06-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-07-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-05-09
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2018-06-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-06-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-01-25
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2016-05-10
🏢
Company incorporated
As ARTISAN MECHATRONICS LIMITED
2016-05-10
➕
STEPHENSON, Ian appointed
director
2016-05-10
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100

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 age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
+No director turnover: Company is 10 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Ian Stephenson Individual · British · DOB 11/1946 · age 80	25–50%	25–50%	board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control	10/05/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · CA postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
AHORITA LIMITED→ 05621123 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
ALM ENGINEERING (CUMBRIA) LIMITED→ 07807338 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
ARCHITECTA LIMITED→ 15509645 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ARMSTRONG ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED→ 13365661 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
ARMSTRONG WATSON AUDIT HOLDINGS LIMITED→ 07511144 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
ARMSTRONG WATSON TRUSTEES LIMITED→ 08449656 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	—	—
ARNISON & COMPANY SOLICITORS LIMITED→ 05132590 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
AROOVO LTD→ 14953265 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ASAP ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES LTD→ 04549790 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
ASCENT MANAGEMENT LTD→ 09586728 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
ASH BENNETT ECOLOGY LTD→ 07536130 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
ASHWOOD DESIGN ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ 06512119 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	—	—

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

Incorporated2016-05-10

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC71121 — Engineering design activities for industrial process and production

Registered office

7 West View

Bransty

Whitehaven

Cumbria

CA28 6BX

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-23

Last: 2026-05-09

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

STEPHENSON, Ian→

director · ~80y · appointed 2016-05-10

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (23 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-05-13

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-05-13