APPLIED TECHNIQUES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
12714190 · ltd · incorporated 2020-07-02
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Engineering related scientific and technical consulting activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 71129Other engineering activities
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 66). 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 (70/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
14 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-06-30
Average employees200

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (12 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-08
    BUSBY, Karen resigned
    director
  3. 2025-01-08
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2024-11-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-03-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-02-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-12-03
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  9. 2020-07-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APPLIED TECHNIQUES LIMITED
  10. 2020-07-02
    BUSBY, Gary appointed
    director
  11. 2020-07-02
    BUSBY, Karen appointed
    director
  12. 2020-07-02
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

90/100
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 66 — 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 66. 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Gary Busby
Individual · British · DOB 10/1960 · age 66
2550%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control02/07/2020
Mrs Karen Busby
Individual · British · DOB 05/1962 · age 64
2550%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control02/07/2020

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

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
Incorporated2020-07-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71122 — Engineering related scientific and technical consulting activities

Registered office

Oakleigh Jubilee Street
Clive
Shrewsbury
SY4 3JZ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-07-15
Last: 2026-07-01

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

BUSBY, Gary
director · ~66y · appointed 2020-07-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BUSBY, Karen
director · ~64y · appointed 2020-07-02 · resigned 2025-01-08
Resigned

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

Recent filings (14 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-07-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-02
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-03
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2020-12-03
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-07-02