THISTLE POLYMER COMPOSITES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC245376 · ltd · incorporated 2003-03-10
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 snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

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

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Sept 2025
Net worth
£95.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 22190
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 80). 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 (69/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
49 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £95,370

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£90k
Net Worth
£95k
Current Assets
£129k
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-09-30
Total assets£95.4k
Current assets£128.9k
Cash£90.1k
Debtors£37.0k
Net assets£95.4k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 capital
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2026-03-31
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  3. 2025-09-16
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2024-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-02-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-03-31
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-03-31
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2003-03-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THISTLE POLYMER COMPOSITES LIMITED
  17. 2003-03-10
    ➕
    POWADA, Sandra appointed
    secretary
  18. 2003-03-10
    ➕
    POWADA, Fred appointed
    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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 23 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

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 80 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Fred Powada
Individual · British · DOB 08/1946 · age 80
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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

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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
Incorporated2003-03-10
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC22190 — SIC 22190

Registered office

Bridge Of Mondynes
Fordoun
Laurencekirk
AB30 1LD

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-24
Last: 2026-03-10

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

POWADA, Sandra→
secretary · appointed 2003-03-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
POWADA, Fred→
director · ~80y · appointed 2003-03-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (49 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-31
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2026-03-31
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-22