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.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jun 2025
Net worth
£2.84M
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Wholesale of other machinery and equipment
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueStrong 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
74 filings on record
85
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
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £2,837,845
Cash YoY
-11%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
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-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-25📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-10-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-05-01📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-09-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-04-28📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2008-04-23➖SMITH, James Hancock resignedsecretary
- 2008-04-23➖SMITH, James Hancock resigneddirector
- 1995-04-28🏢Company incorporatedAs ASSOCIATED PRODUCTION TOOLS LIMITED
- 1995-04-28➕SMITH, James Michael appointeddirector
- 1995-04-28➕REID, Brian appointedsecretary
- 1995-04-28➖REID, Brian resignedsecretary
- 1995-04-28➕SMITH, James Hancock appointedsecretary
- 1995-04-28➕MABBOTT, Stephen appointednominee-director
- 1995-04-28➖MABBOTT, Stephen resignednominee-director
- 1995-04-28➕SMITH, James Hancock appointeddirector
Owner dependency
85/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 candidateStrong 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
cleanNo 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.
Similar companies
Active · Wholesale & distribution · G postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALIF GLOBAL ENTERPRISES LIMITED→ SC706006 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| AN WHOLESALE INC LIMITED→ SC815351 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ANDVIN GIN LTD→ SC757884 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AONLINE UK LTD→ SC696489 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ARDBRAE ORGANIC LIMITED→ SC724949 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| AXL DISTRIBUTION LIMITED→ SC837073 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| B. C. FIXINGS LTD.→ SC356258 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| B.B.C. MACHINE TOOLS LIMITED→ SC097580 · est 1986 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 40y | — | — |
| BACK STREET IMPORTS LTD→ SC655377 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| BAGBOX LIMITED→ SC733330 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BAIN SERVICES LTD→ SC660925 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| BALOR FOOTWEAR LTD→ SC746371 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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
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→
Activedirector · ~55y · appointed 1995-04-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
REID, Brian→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 1995-04-28
SMITH, James Hancock→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 2008-04-23
MABBOTT, Stephen→
Resignednominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 1995-04-28
SMITH, James Hancock→
Resigneddirector · ~84y · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 2008-04-23
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (74 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-04-10