HYDRALOCK SYSTEMS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC436445 · ltd · incorporated 2012-11-08
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£-131.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 79). 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 (79/100)

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 (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
37 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £131,893
Cash YoY
+3%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£28k
↑ 3.4% YoY
Net Worth
-£132k
↓ 2.8% YoY
Current Assets
£45k
↓ 7.5% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£132k-£96k-£60k-£24k£12k£48kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£-131.9k£-128.3k
Current assets£44.9k£48.5k
Cash£28.2k£27.3k
Debtors£16.7k£21.2k
Net assets£-131.9k£-128.3k

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 (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-30
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  2. 2025-10-29
    ➖
    WARDLEY, Michael Thomas resigned
    director
  3. 2025-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-01-05
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  8. 2021-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-12-06
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  10. 2021-12-06
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  11. 2021-12-03
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  12. 2020-11-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-10-24
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  17. 2017-10-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  18. 2017-10-11
    ➖
    RAEBURN CHRISTIE CLARK & WALLACE resigned
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2012-11-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HYDRALOCK SYSTEMS LIMITED
  20. 2012-11-08
    ➕
    SIMPSON, Neil Andrew Abercrombie appointed
    director
  21. 2012-11-08
    ➕
    RAEBURN CHRISTIE CLARK & WALLACE appointed
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2012-11-08
    ➕
    WARDLEY, Michael Thomas 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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — 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 70+: Senior director is approximately 79 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 14 years.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Michael Thomas Wardley
Individual · British · DOB 01/1957 · age 69
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr Neil Andrew Abercrombie Simpson
Individual · British · DOB 07/1947 · age 79
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2012-11-08
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Burn Of Daff Farm Downies Village
Portlethen
Aberdeen
AB12 4QX
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-22
Last: 2025-11-08

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

SIMPSON, Neil Andrew Abercrombie→
director · ~79y · appointed 2012-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RAEBURN CHRISTIE CLARK & WALLACE→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2012-11-08 · resigned 2017-10-11
Resigned
WARDLEY, Michael Thomas→
director · ~69y · appointed 2012-11-08 · resigned 2025-10-29
Resigned

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

Recent filings (37 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-10
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-08
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2022-01-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-09
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2021-12-06
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2021-12-06
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2021-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-03