XS RESEARCH LTD

💤Zombieactive

NI603333 · ltd · incorporated 2010-06-03

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

£3.6k

book net assets

Opportunity

75/100

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

72190Other research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (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 (76/100)

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

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

35 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

75/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £3,605

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£4k

↑ 11% YoY

Current Assets

£4k

↑ 11% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-06-30	2024-06-30
Total assets	£3.7k	£3.3k
Current assets	£3.7k	£3.3k
Net assets	£3.6k	£3.3k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand

2026-03-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-03-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-03-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-06-29
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-06-29
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2016-03-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-06-25
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-03-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-07-14
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2010-06-03
🏢
Company incorporated
As XS RESEARCH LTD
2010-06-03
➕
LISK, Claire Mairead appointed
secretary
2010-06-03
➕
LISK, David Michael, Dr. appointed
director

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.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+No director turnover: Company is 16 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Dr David Michael Lisk Individual · British · DOB 04/1984 · age 42	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	03/06/2017

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · BT postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
GOLF HOLDINGS LIMITED→ NI042002 · est 2001	£18.07M £13.31M–£22.82M	—	—	3000	24y	88	80y
MCADAM DESIGN LIMITED→ NI013516 · est 1979	£15.65M £11.53M–£19.76M	£22.01M	—	14800	47y	88	61y
DORAN CONSULTING LIMITED→ NI055181 · est 2005	£13.17M £9.70M–£16.63M	—	—	136	21y	85	65y
COPIUS (NI) LTD→ NI071245 · est 2008	£6.20M £4.57M–£7.83M	—	—	1800	17y	85	75y
B S LIFT LIMITED→ NI067456 · est 2007	£4.43M £3.26M–£5.59M	—	—	36	18y	86	76y
FIRST CHOICE SELECTION SERVICES LTD→ NI026337 · est 1992	£3.40M £2.51M–£4.30M	£22.43M	—	85500	34y	87	69y
VAUGHAN ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED→ NI003617 · est 1955	£2.73M £2.01M–£3.44M	—	—	12000	70y	85	69y
INDUSTRIAL TEMPS LIMITED→ NI029155 · est 1995	£2.68M £1.97M–£3.38M	£23.87M	—	123700	31y	87	61y
VALUE VAN RENTAL UK LTD→ NI629512 · est 2015	£1.38M £1.02M–£1.75M	£2.12M	—	700	11y	91	58y
MOTIS TOLLS LIMITED→ NI627289 · est 2014	£1.14M £837.7k–£1.44M	£29.30M	—	0	11y	93	59y
BREEZEMOUNT GROUP LTD→ NI635494 · est 2015	£368.9k £271.8k–£466.0k	£400.0k	—	400	10y	84	65y
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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.

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2010-06-03

Jurisdictionnorthern-ireland

Primary SIC71122 — Engineering related scientific and technical consulting activities

Registered office

24a Scottstown Road

Moorfields

Ballymena

Co. Antrim

BT42 4RA

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-03-31

Last made up to: 2025-06-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-17

Last: 2025-06-03

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

LISK, Claire Mairead→

secretary · appointed 2010-06-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

LISK, David Michael, Dr.→

director · ~42y · appointed 2010-06-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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