S & E HORNSTEIN LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC321600 · ltd · incorporated 2007-04-19
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 Jun 2024
Net worth
£102.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other human health activities
Sector: Human health & social work
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 13.4y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 13.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
50 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £102,520

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£95k
Net Worth
£103k
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£21k£41k£62k£82k£103kJun 2023Jun 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-06-302023-06-30
Total assets£102.5k—
Cash£95.2k—
Debtors£7.3k—
Net assets£102.5k—

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-03-25
    📄
    gazette-notice-voluntary
    gazette · GAZ1(A)
  2. 2025-03-20
    📄
    dissolution-withdrawal-application-strike-off-company
    dissolution · DS02
  3. 2025-03-17
    📄
    dissolution-application-strike-off-company
    dissolution · DS01
  4. 2025-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-03-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-01-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2016-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-04-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2013-01-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  17. 2007-04-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As S & E HORNSTEIN LTD.
  18. 2007-04-19
    ➕
    HORNSTEIN, Linda appointed
    secretary
  19. 2007-04-19
    ➕
    HORNSTEIN, Errol Melvyn appointed
    director
  20. 2007-04-19
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-secretary
  21. 2007-04-19
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2007-04-19
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-director
  23. 2007-04-19
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "HORNSTEIN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

98/100
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.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 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 Errol Melvyn Hornstein
Individual · British · DOB 01/1954 · age 72
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/04/2017

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 →

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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
Incorporated2007-04-19
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC86900 — Other human health activities

Registered office

77a Quarry Street
Hamilton
ML3 7AG
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-29
Last: 2025-05-15

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

HORNSTEIN, Linda→
secretary · appointed 2007-04-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HORNSTEIN, Errol Melvyn→
director · ~72y · appointed 2007-04-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-04-19 · resigned 2007-04-19
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-director · appointed 2007-04-19 · resigned 2007-04-19
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Floating charge1 property04/01/2013—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (50 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-15
gazette-notice-voluntary
gazette · GAZ1(A)
2025-03-25
dissolution-withdrawal-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS02
2025-03-20
dissolution-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS01
2025-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-20