OPTEL INSTRUMENTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC046704 · ltd · incorporated 1969-06-25
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (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 (73/100).

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
8 officers (1 active, 8 linked, 4 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
110 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-05-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-08
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  6. 2022-09-06
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2022-09-06
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  8. 2022-09-06
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  9. 2022-09-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2022-09-01
    ➕
    DUNS, Andrew Michael appointed
    director
  11. 2022-09-01
    ➖
    MACKENZIE, Hugh Alexander, Dr resigned
    director
  12. 2022-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2021-05-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2020-05-01
    ➖
    SUTTLE, Robert Andrew resigned
    secretary
  15. 2020-05-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  16. 2020-05-01
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  17. 2019-05-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2018-05-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2017-05-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 1999-06-26
    ➕
    SUTTLE, Robert Andrew appointed
    secretary
  21. 1999-03-26
    ➖
    MORTON FRASER resigned
    corporate-secretary
  22. 1996-10-03
    ➕
    MORTON FRASER appointed
    corporate-secretary
  23. 1996-08-22
    ➖
    MARSHALL, Margaret resigned
    secretary
  24. 1996-08-22
    ➖
    MARSHALL, Peter Mckinnon resigned
    director
  25. 1996-07-01
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Hugh Alexander, Dr appointed
    director
  26. 1993-03-03
    ➕
    MARSHALL, Margaret appointed
    secretary
  27. 1993-03-03
    ➖
    MCNEIL, David John resigned
    secretary
  28. 1993-03-03
    ➖
    HENDERSON, Gordon resigned
    director
  29. 1969-06-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As OPTEL INSTRUMENTS LIMITED

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 57 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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 Andrew Michael Duns
Individual · British · DOB 07/1966 · age 60
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/09/2022
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Dr Hugh Alexander Mackenzieceased 01/09/2022· 25-50% shares

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 →

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———————
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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
Incorporated1969-06-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Registered office

11 York Road
North Berwick
EH39 4LX
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-10
Last: 2026-03-27

Officers (1 active · 7 resigned)

DUNS, Andrew Michael→
director · ~60y · appointed 2022-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MARSHALL, Margaret→
secretary · appointed 1993-03-03 · resigned 1996-08-22
Resigned
MCNEIL, David John→
secretary · resigned 1993-03-03
Resigned
SUTTLE, Robert Andrew→
secretary · appointed 1999-06-26 · resigned 2020-05-01
Resigned
MORTON FRASER→
corporate-secretary · appointed 1996-10-03 · resigned 1999-03-26
Resigned
HENDERSON, Gordon→
director · ~95y · resigned 1993-03-03
Resigned
MACKENZIE, Hugh Alexander, Dr→
director · ~87y · appointed 1996-07-01 · resigned 2022-09-01
Resigned
MARSHALL, Peter Mckinnon→
director · ~82y · resigned 1996-08-22
Resigned

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

Recent filings (110 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-05-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-01
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-09-08
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-09-06
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-09-06
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-09-06
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-30