L.BROWN INSPECTION SERVICES LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC272355 · ltd · incorporated 2004-08-24
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 Aug 2024
Net worth
£13.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Treatment and coating of metals
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
50 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 · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £13,444
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£13k
Current Assets
£13k
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-08-31 | 2023-08-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £13.4k | — |
| Current assets | £13.4k | — |
| Net assets | £13.4k | — |
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 (20 events)Click to expand
- 2025-05-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-28📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2021-05-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-30📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2020-11-30📄withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statementpersons-with-significant-control · PSC09
- 2020-05-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-30📄accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AAMD
- 2018-05-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-07-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-06-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2015-10-01📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2005-08-06➕BROWN, Lockhart Urquhart appointeddirector
- 2005-08-06➖L.BROWN INSPECTION SERVICES LIMITED resignedcorporate-director
- 2004-08-24🏢Company incorporatedAs L.BROWN INSPECTION SERVICES LIMITED
- 2004-08-24➕BROWN, Sandra appointedsecretary
- 2004-08-24➕L.BROWN INSPECTION SERVICES LIMITED appointedcorporate-director
Owner dependency
100/100
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.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BROWN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 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
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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Lockhart Urquhart Wilson Brown Individual · British · DOB 10/1958 · age 68 | — | — | sig. influencesignificant influence · trust interest · firm interest | 30/11/2020 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M PLUS LIVINGSTON LIMITED→ SC881913 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| MCSQUARED PRINTERS LIMITED→ SC643348 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| MEHCO PETROLEUM SERVICES LIMITED→ SC606082 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| MEMBRANE SENSOR SYSTEMS LIMITED→ SC752585 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| MEMSSTAR LIMITED→ SC240229 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| METERTECH LTD→ SC666060 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| MICRO ELECTRONIC MACHINE ASSEMBLY LTD→ SC615761 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| MODULEX SCOTLAND LTD→ SC748383 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| MONKEY BARREL RECORDS LTD→ SC658526 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| MOO AND YOO LTD→ SC584480 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| MORGENSTERN ENERGY LTD→ SC589911 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| MORTON MIXERS LIMITED→ SC544411 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2004-08-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC25610 — Treatment and coating of metals
Registered office
17 Fraser Avenue
Edinburgh
EH5 2AF
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-14
Last: 2025-08-31
Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)
Active
BROWN, Lockhart Urquhart→
Activedirector · ~68y · appointed 2005-08-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
L.BROWN INSPECTION SERVICES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-director · appointed 2004-08-24 · resigned 2005-08-06
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (50 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-05-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-31
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2020-11-30
withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
2020-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-05-30