S T M SYSTEMS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC171399 · ltd · incorporated 1997-01-16

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 Jan 2025

Net worth

£14.9k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Sound recording and music publishing activities

Sector: Information & communication

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

62020Information technology consultancy activities

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). 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, 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

5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

71 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £14,935

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£15k

↑ 7.9% YoY

Current Assets

£2k

↓ 9.3% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-01-31	2024-01-31
Total assets	£14.9k	£13.8k
Current assets	£2.5k	£2.7k
Net assets	£14.9k	£13.8k

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

2025-10-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-11-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-09-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-04-04
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2016-01-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-31
➖
MCDONALD, Alistair Roy resigned
secretary
2015-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-01-18
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-10-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
1998-02-28
➖
DOUGLAS, Nina Kathleen resigned
secretary
1998-02-28
➕
MCDONALD, Alistair Roy appointed
secretary
1997-01-16
🏢
Company incorporated
As S T M SYSTEMS LIMITED
1997-01-16
➕
MCELROY, Stephen Thomas appointed
director
1997-01-16
➕
DOUGLAS, Nina Kathleen appointed
secretary
1997-01-16
➕
REID, Brian appointed
nominee-secretary
1997-01-16
➖
REID, Brian resigned
nominee-secretary
1997-01-16
➕
MABBOTT, Stephen appointed
nominee-director
1997-01-16
➖
MABBOTT, Stephen resigned
nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100

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 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 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 Stephen Thomas Mcelroy Individual · Scottish · DOB 07/1954 · age 72	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	07/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Technology · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
T & T CLARK LIMITED→ SC130999 · est 1991 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	35y	—	—
THERAPY MADE SIMPLE LTD→ SC858283 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
THIRD PLATFORM TECHNOLOGIES LTD→ SC629618 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
THUS GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC192666 · est 1999 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	27y	—	—
TIXSKI LTD→ SC824048 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
TMF TRADING LTD→ SC787839 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
TNS SOFTWARE GROUP LTD→ SC767671 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
TRADENATION LTD→ SC858549 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
TRAINABLE LTD→ SC859857 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
TRAKSY LIMITED→ SC637410 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
TRAVEL IN STYLE 365 LTD→ SC863782 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
TREETOPFROG LTD→ SC649703 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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

Incorporated1997-01-16

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC59200 — Sound recording and music publishing activities

Registered office

3 Durham Road South

Edinburgh

EH15 3PD

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-10-31

Last made up to: 2025-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-30

Last: 2026-01-16

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

MCELROY, Stephen Thomas→

director · ~72y · appointed 1997-01-16

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DOUGLAS, Nina Kathleen→

secretary · appointed 1997-01-16 · resigned 1998-02-28

Resigned

MCDONALD, Alistair Roy→

secretary · appointed 1998-02-28 · resigned 2015-12-31

Resigned

REID, Brian→

nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-01-16 · resigned 1997-01-16

Resigned

MABBOTT, Stephen→

nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1997-01-16 · resigned 1997-01-16

Resigned

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