KNOWEHEAD CONTROLS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC553046 · ltd · incorporated 2016-12-20
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 28990
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 70). 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 (76/100)

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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
20 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31

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
3
filings
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (14 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-29
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2025-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-11-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2021-08-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-10-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-09-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-12-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As KNOWEHEAD CONTROLS LIMITED
  12. 2016-12-20
    KERBYSON, Alison Dunn appointed
    secretary
  13. 2016-12-20
    KERBYSON, Alan John appointed
    director
  14. 2016-12-20
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
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 70 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 9 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
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 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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
Mr Alan John Herbert Kerbyson
Individual · British · DOB 11/1956 · age 70
2550%
25–50%board controlsig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest20/12/2016

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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2016-12-20
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC28990 — SIC 28990

Registered office

1 High Carnduff Steading
By Strathaven
Strathaven
ML10 6ZB
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-02
Last: 2025-12-19

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

KERBYSON, Alison Dunn
secretary · appointed 2016-12-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
KERBYSON, Alan John
director · ~70y · appointed 2016-12-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (20 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-30
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-12-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-30
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-30