ESSENTIAL THERAPEUTICS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC323682 · ltd · incorporated 2007-05-15
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Artistic creation
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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 (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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
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
43 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.

Key financials

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

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets—£0
Net assets—£0

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-02-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-05-15
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2016-02-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-06-07
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-02-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-06-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2013-02-26
    ➖
    HOWIE, James resigned
    secretary
  17. 2007-05-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ESSENTIAL THERAPEUTICS LIMITED
  18. 2007-05-15
    ➕
    HOWIE, Susan Marie appointed
    director
  19. 2007-05-15
    ➕
    HOWIE, James 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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • 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
Ms Susan Marie Howie
Individual · British · DOB 05/1961 · age 65
75–100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest15/05/2016

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
Incorporated2007-05-15
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC90030 — Artistic creation

Registered office

34 Groveburn Avenue
Orchard Park
Thornliebank
East Renfrewshire
G46 7DA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-27
Last: 2026-02-13

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

HOWIE, Susan Marie→
director · ~65y · appointed 2007-05-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HOWIE, James→
secretary · appointed 2007-05-15 · resigned 2013-02-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (43 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-02-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-02-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-05-27