ASSOCIATED PRODUCTION TOOLS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC157747 · ltd · incorporated 1995-04-28

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No material changes in the last 90 days.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jun 2025

Net worth

£2.84M

book net assets

Opportunity

75/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Wholesale of other machinery and equipment

Sector: Wholesale & retail

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, 1 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

5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

74 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 £2,837,845

Cash YoY

-11%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£931k

↓ 11% YoY

Net Worth

£2.8m

↑ 12% YoY

Current Assets

£2.7m

↑ 5.3% 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	£2.85M	£2.54M
Current assets	£2.70M	£2.56M
Cash	£931.4k	£1.05M
Debtors	£241.4k	£252.9k
Net assets	£2.84M	£2.53M

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand

2025-10-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-11-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-25
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-01
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-09-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-04-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2008-04-23
➖
SMITH, James Hancock resigned
secretary
2008-04-23
➖
SMITH, James Hancock resigned
director
1995-04-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As ASSOCIATED PRODUCTION TOOLS LIMITED
1995-04-28
➕
SMITH, James Michael appointed
director
1995-04-28
➕
REID, Brian appointed
secretary
1995-04-28
➖
REID, Brian resigned
secretary
1995-04-28
➕
SMITH, James Hancock appointed
secretary
1995-04-28
➕
MABBOTT, Stephen appointed
nominee-director
1995-04-28
➖
MABBOTT, Stephen resigned
nominee-director
1995-04-28
➕
SMITH, James Hancock appointed
director

Owner dependency

85/100

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 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 31 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
Mr James Michael Smith Individual · British · DOB 12/1971 · age 55	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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

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Active · Wholesale & distribution · G postcode area

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ALLIANCE SANITARY PRODUCTS LIMITED→ SC261393 · est 2004	£8.86M £6.65M–£11.08M	—	—	2900	22y	86	69y
FAILTE FOOD SERVICE LIMITED→ SC275128 · est 2004	£7.59M £5.69M–£9.48M	—	—	71	21y	85	66y
WESTSIDE DISTRIBUTION HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC648056 · est 2019	£5.77M £4.33M–£7.21M	—	—	27	6y	84	67y
WESTSIDE DISTRIBUTION LIMITED→ SC365971 · est 2009	£5.77M £4.33M–£7.21M	—	—	27	16y	88	67y
WILLIAM MORTON LIMITED→ SC056257 · est 1974	£5.23M £3.93M–£6.54M	—	—	141	51y	85	74y
SOUTHEAST TRADERS LIMITED→ SC235763 · est 2002	£4.00M £3.00M–£5.01M	—	—	26	23y	88	67y
SCO-FRO GROUP LIMITED→ SC057644 · est 1975	£2.74M £2.06M–£3.43M	—	—	20	51y	95	72y
WEST MERCIA FORK TRUCK SERVICE LIMITED→ SC051867 · est 1972	£2.59M £1.94M–£3.23M	£11.04M	—	5700	53y	83	59y
D MCNAIR (BUILDERS MERCHANTS) LIMITED→ SC089357 · est 1984	£2.35M £1.76M–£2.93M	—	—	69	41y	85	63y
EAGLE TUBE AND FLANGES LIMITED→ SC084811 · est 1983	£2.14M £1.60M–£2.67M	—	—	1400	42y	83	70y
LEESHUN CATERING SUPPLIES LTD→ SC346276 · est 2008	£811.1k £608.3k–£1.01M	—	—	13	17y	83	69y
ASTRA HYGIENE SUPPLIES LIMITED→ SC122088 · est 1989	—	—	£335.1k	—	36y	83	81y

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1995-04-28

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC46690 — Wholesale of other machinery and equipment

Registered office

Unit 7, Carberry Court

28 Queen Elizabeth Avenue

Hillington Park

Glasgow

G52 4NQ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-03-31

Last made up to: 2025-06-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-18

Last: 2026-04-04

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

SMITH, James Michael→

director · ~55y · appointed 1995-04-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

REID, Brian→

secretary · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 1995-04-28

Resigned

SMITH, James Hancock→

secretary · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 2008-04-23

Resigned

MABBOTT, Stephen→

nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 1995-04-28

Resigned

SMITH, James Hancock→

director · ~84y · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 2008-04-23

Resigned

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