DOWNHOLE ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC394269 · ltd · incorporated 2011-02-25
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
£140.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
67/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Specialised design activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed professional-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 67/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
31 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
67/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £140,498
Net assets shrinking
Down £36,208 YoY
Cash YoY
-25%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£130k
↓ 25% YoY
Net Worth
£140k
↓ 20% YoY
Current Assets
£161k
↓ 16% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£38k£77k£115k£154k£192kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£140.5k£176.7k
Current assets£161.4k£192.1k
Cash£130.2k£173.4k
Debtors£31.3k£18.7k
Net assets£140.5k£176.7k

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-02-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-01-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-03-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-10-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-03-10
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2014-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-03-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2013-08-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2011-02-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DOWNHOLE ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED
  18. 2011-02-25
    JENNER, David Paul appointed
    director

Owner dependency

90/100
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 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 15 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

63/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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: 2026-03-11

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David Jenner
Individual · New Zealander · DOB 01/1979 · age 47
75100%
75-100% shares06/04/2016

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2011-02-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74100 — Specialised design activities

Registered office

10 Westhill Grange
Westhill
Aberdeenshire
AB32 6QJ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-03-11OVERDUE
Last: 2025-02-25

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

JENNER, David Paul
director · ~47y · appointed 2011-02-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (31 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-31