THE VINTAGE LIGHT BULB COMPANY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC505263 · ltd · incorporated 2015-05-07
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
£26.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
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.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale of furniture, lighting, and similar (not musical instruments or scores) in specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 3.7y

35/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Charge age ~3.7 years — mid-life; refi window approaching.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
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
24 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £26,501
Net assets shrinking
Down £11,144 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£27k
↓ 30% YoY
Current Assets
£73k
↑ 45% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£15k£29k£44k£59k£73kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£184.5k£204.4k
Current assets£73.2k£50.6k
Net assets£26.5k£37.6k

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
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. 2026-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-03-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-08-05
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  6. 2022-08-05
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  7. 2022-08-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Allica Bank Limited
  8. 2022-08-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Allica Bank Limited
  9. 2021-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-05-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-02-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-05-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-05-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE VINTAGE LIGHT BULB COMPANY LIMITED
  17. 2015-05-07
    ➕
    CHRISTEY, Emma Jane appointed
    director
  18. 2015-05-07
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

50/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ms Emma Jane Christey
Individual · British · DOB 04/1969 · age 57
25–50%
—25-50% shares07/05/2017

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Retail · PH postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
BROOMHALL LIMITED→
SC183103 · est 1998
———2928y8363y
D M (AGRI-SUPPLIES) LTD→
SC253917 · est 2003
———322y8364y
THE CORPORATE CHRISTMAS TREE COMPANY LIMITED→
SC183535 · est 1998
———1528y8358y
ABERLOUR FILLING STATION LIMITED→
SC263273 · est 2004
———022y8258y
BELINDA ROBERTSON RETAIL LIMITED→
SC234891 · est 2002
——£306.2k—23y8267y
REN ET VOIGT LIMITED→
SC283336 · est 2005 · no financials extracted
————20y——
RESTART LOCHABER COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY→
SC627206 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
————7y——
THE HORSE SHOP LTD→
SC860586 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
THE STRATHEARN GALLERY LIMITED→
SC446644 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
————13y——
THISTLE AND HEART LTD→
SC525283 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
————10y——
TOUCH OF ASIA LTD→
SC857770 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
VAPE & CANDY LTD→
SC779882 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————2y——
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
Incorporated2015-05-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47599 — Retail sale of furniture, lighting, and similar (not musical instruments or scores) in specialised stores

Registered office

6 Atholl Crescent
Perth
Perthshire
PH1 5JN
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-28
Last: 2025-05-14

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CHRISTEY, Emma Jane→
director · ~57y · appointed 2015-05-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Allica Bank
Allica Bank Limited
A registered charge1 property03/08/2022—
outstanding
Allica Bank
Allica Bank Limited
A registered charge—01/08/2022—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (24 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-02
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2022-08-05
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2022-08-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-15