MARINE OFFSHORE DESIGN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC322383 · ltd · incorporated 2007-04-27

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 May 2025

Net worth

£15.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

72/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Special-situation opportunity

Distressed professional-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 72/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. Strong seller-intent signal (65/100, director aged 61). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -57% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. 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 (2 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

39 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

72/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Adequate — check latest filings for context.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Some moderate concerns — review flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £15,423

Net assets shrinking

Down £32,133 YoY

Cash draining

Cash down 57% YoY

Cash YoY

-57%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£23k

↓ 57% YoY

Net Worth

£15k

↓ 68% YoY

Current Assets

£24k

↓ 58% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Total assets	£17.8k	£53.2k
Current assets	£23.6k	£56.8k
Cash	£23.5k	£54.1k
Debtors	£83	£2.7k
Net assets	£15.4k	£47.6k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand

2026-02-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-02-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-02-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-01-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-07-05
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-02-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-05-15
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-01-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2007-04-27
🏢
Company incorporated
As MARINE OFFSHORE DESIGN LIMITED
2007-04-27
➕
HOWLETT, Bernadette appointed
secretary
2007-04-27
➕
HOWLETT, Brian appointed
director

Owner dependency

98/100

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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
+No director turnover: Company is 19 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

73/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
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.

Red flags

1 high ·

Confirmation statement overdue

high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-05-11

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Brian Howlett Individual · British · DOB 06/1965 · age 61	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

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

Incorporated2007-04-27

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

49 Glasgow Road

Denny

Stirlingshire

FK6 5DW

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-11OVERDUE

Last: 2025-04-27

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

HOWLETT, Bernadette→

secretary · appointed 2007-04-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HOWLETT, Brian→

director · ~61y · appointed 2007-04-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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