ECO FIRST DECORATORS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC446767 · ltd · incorporated 2013-04-04
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
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

What this business does
Primary activity: Painting
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (72/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
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
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
36 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-05

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 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • 2 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-12-30
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  3. 2025-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-12-27
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  5. 2024-04-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-03-29
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  7. 2023-12-30
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  8. 2023-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2023-04-03
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  10. 2023-01-03
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  11. 2022-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2022-01-04
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  13. 2021-04-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2020-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2013-04-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ECO FIRST DECORATORS LIMITED
  17. 2013-04-04
    WALLACE, Gary Charles appointed
    director

Owner dependency

80/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
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 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
Mr Gary Charles Wallace
Individual · British · DOB 02/1973 · age 53
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% 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 →

Similar companies

Active · Construction · ML postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
STARFISH 9 LTD
SC358097 · est 2009
£28.53M
£20.38M£36.68M
£26.35M550017y9568y
ADVANCE FLOORING SOLUTIONS LTD
SC492317 · est 2014
£3.21M
£2.29M£4.12M
2511y8358y
LINEAR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT LIMITED
SC607605 · est 2018
£3.13M
£2.23M£4.02M
34007y8359y
A.C. ELECTRICS (CLELAND) LTD.
SC269237 · est 2004
21y8362y
ADVANCE CONSTRUCTION (SCOTLAND) LIMITED
SC202570 · est 1999 · no financials extracted
26y8368y
ADVANCE UTILITIES (SCOTLAND) LTD
SC157842 · est 1995
5331y8368y
BRANNOCK DECORATORS LTD.
SC218053 · est 2001
£419.3k25y8363y
INTERNOS BUILDERS LTD.
SC215428 · est 2001
£306.4k25y8382y
JMS PLANT HIRE LIMITED
SC191902 · est 1998 · no financials extracted
27y8368y
MAQ (AIR CONDITIONING) LIMITED
SC314817 · est 2007
£307.9k19y8370y
RSD GLASS WORKS LIMITED
SC282519 · est 2005
£78.6k21y8366y
SPECTRUM DECORATING LTD.
SC172495 · est 1997
£222.7k29y8366y
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

7 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
Incorporated2013-04-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC43341 — Painting

Registered office

168b Clark Street
Airdrie
ML6 6DZ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-29
Last made up to: 2025-04-05
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-22
Last: 2026-04-08

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

WALLACE, Gary Charles
director · ~53y · appointed 2013-04-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (36 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-30
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-27
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-12-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-05
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-03-29
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2023-12-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-06
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2023-04-03
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2023-01-03