PETROLIC CONTROLS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC269261 · ltd · incorporated 2004-06-14
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company 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 (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
62 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-052024-04-05

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-06-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-06-07
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2020-04-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-06-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-12-05
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2018-10-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-08-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2017-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-06-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2016-06-15
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-07-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2007-10-18
    ➕
    COWIE, Graeme James appointed
    secretary
  18. 2007-10-18
    ➖
    FREELANCE EURO CONTRACTING LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2004-06-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As PETROLIC CONTROLS LTD
  20. 2004-06-14
    ➕
    COWIE, David John appointed
    director
  21. 2004-06-14
    ➕
    FREELANCE EURO CONTRACTING LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2004-06-14
    ➕
    GRANT SMITH LAW PRACTICE appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2004-06-14
    ➖
    GRANT SMITH LAW PRACTICE resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2004-06-14
    ➕
    BOWMAN, Sally Ann appointed
    nominee-director
  25. 2004-06-14
    ➖
    BOWMAN, Sally Ann resigned
    nominee-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 22 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 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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 David John Cowie
Individual · British · DOB 06/1977 · age 49
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

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 →
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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
Incorporated2004-06-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

49 John Finnie Street
C/O Myvo Ltd F4
Kilmarnock
KA1 1EE
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-05
Last made up to: 2025-04-05
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-28
Last: 2025-06-14

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

COWIE, Graeme James→
secretary · appointed 2007-10-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COWIE, David John→
director · ~49y · appointed 2004-06-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FREELANCE EURO CONTRACTING LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2004-06-14 · resigned 2007-10-18
Resigned
GRANT SMITH LAW PRACTICE→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-06-14 · resigned 2004-06-14
Resigned
BOWMAN, Sally Ann→
nominee-director · ~58y · appointed 2004-06-14 · resigned 2004-06-14
Resigned

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

Recent filings (62 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-07
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-06-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-04-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-06-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-03