VAL NORTON LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC437999 · ltd · incorporated 2012-11-30
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 Nov 2025
Net worth
£115.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46341
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 83-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 83). 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
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
27 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 · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £115,002
Cash YoY
+10%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£108k
↑ 10% YoY
Net Worth
£115k
↑ 8.6% YoY
Current Assets
£126k
↑ 8.5% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£25k£51k£76k£101k£126kNov 2024Nov 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-11-302024-11-30
Total assets£115.0k£105.9k
Current assets£126.3k£116.4k
Cash£108.2k£98.2k
Debtors£18.1k£18.1k
Net assets£115.0k£105.9k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-07-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-03-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-08-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-05-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-01-12
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2015-05-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2014-12-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2012-11-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As VAL NORTON LTD
  17. 2012-11-30
    ➕
    NORTON, Valerie Christine appointed
    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 "NORTON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 83 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

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 83 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 13 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ms Valerie Christine Norton
Individual · British · DOB 01/1943 · age 83
75–100%
—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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——3925y8458y
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GPH BUILDERS MERCHANTS LIMITED→
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ABERDEEN OFFICE SUPPLIES LIMITED→
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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
Incorporated2012-11-30
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46341 — SIC 46341

Registered office

Pannanich Wells Hotel
South Deeside Road
Ballater
Aberdeenshire
AB35 5SJ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-08-31
Last made up to: 2025-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-14
Last: 2025-11-30

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

NORTON, Valerie Christine→
director · ~83y · appointed 2012-11-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (27 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-01-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-03-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-07-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-03-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-01-30