ARDWELL MARINE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC253417 · ltd · incorporated 2003-07-28

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 Jul 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 45190

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company 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 (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

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

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

48 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2024-07-31	2023-07-31

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand

2025-04-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-04-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-04-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-04-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-04-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-04-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-04-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-04-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-07-29
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-04-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2014-08-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-04-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2013-07-31
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2010-12-31
➖
CASE, Maureen resigned
secretary
2003-07-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As ARDWELL MARINE LIMITED
2003-07-28
➕
CASE, Thomas appointed
director
2003-07-28
➕
CASE, Maureen appointed
secretary

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 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 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Thomas Case Individual · British · DOB 06/1954 · age 72	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	30/06/2016

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

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EUROROUTE LIMITED→ SC110658 · est 1988	£4.11M £3.29M–£4.93M	£11.78M	—	6500	38y	83	78y
ARMSTRONG TRUCKS LIMITED→ SC302512 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	82	70y
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HUNTINGDON GARAGE LIMITED→ SC279130 · est 2005	—	—	—	3	21y	82	62y
BRIDGE END GARAGE (DUMFRIES) LIMITED→ SC237808 · est 2002	—	—	£266.2k	—	23y	80	66y
DUMFRIES HYDRAULIC SERVICES LIMITED→ SC351503 · est 2008	—	—	—	100	17y	80	77y
G.&T.MOFFAT & CO.LIMITED→ SC060874 · est 1976	—	—	£509.3k	—	49y	80	76y
L & P MOTORS EASTRIGGS LIMITED→ SC323608 · est 2007	—	—	£172.7k	—	18y	80	59y
HAMILTON MOTOR ENGINEERING LTD→ SC464664 · est 2013	—	—	—	1000	12y	78	74y
OTB AUTOMOTIVE LIMITED→ SC669460 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
PSK AUTO REPAIRS LTD→ SC832121 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
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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

Incorporated2003-07-28

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC45190 — SIC 45190

Registered office

Ardwell Stores

Ardwell

Stranraer

Wigtownshire

DG9 9LS

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-04-30

Last made up to: 2024-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-11

Last: 2025-07-28

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

CASE, Thomas→

director · ~72y · appointed 2003-07-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CASE, Maureen→

secretary · appointed 2003-07-28 · resigned 2010-12-31

Resigned

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