3M DRIVES & CONTROLS LTD

🌱Startupactive
16255981 · ltd · incorporated 2025-02-17
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
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Turnover
not disclosed
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 33140
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, 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: low (52/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 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
2 filings — limited history
30
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
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.

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 (3 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-02-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 3M DRIVES & CONTROLS LTD
  2. 2025-02-17
    POTTS, Melvyn appointed
    director
  3. 2025-02-17
    📄
    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 67 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Young company: Only 1.3 years old — management layer unlikely to be developed.

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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Melvyn Potts
Individual · British · DOB 07/1959 · age 67
2550%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control17/02/2025
Miss Melissa Jamie Potts
Individual · British · DOB 01/1993 · age 33
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting17/02/2025

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 →
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9 specific questions generated from this company's actual signals — liquidity, leverage, director age, charge count, red flags, age-of-company.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2025-02-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC33140 — SIC 33140

Registered office

35 Saddler Avenue
Stone
ST15 8YH
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-17
Last made up to:
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-02
Last: 2026-02-16

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

POTTS, Melvyn
director · ~67y · appointed 2025-02-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (2 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-17
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2025-02-17