OLDPALS (20250612) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC560885 · ltd · incorporated 2017-03-20
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£-118.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Engineering design activities for industrial process and production
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 67/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 5.7y

15/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 5.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
48 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
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
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £118,710
Cash YoY
+345%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£6k
↑ 345% YoY
Net Worth
-£119k
↓ 3.1% YoY
Current Assets
£28k
↑ 20% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£119k-£89k-£60k-£31k-£1k£28kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£-118.7k£-110.4k
Current assets£28.2k£23.6k
Cash£6.1k£1.4k
Debtors£8£56
Net assets£-118.7k£-115.2k

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 change-of-name
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (31 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-14
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  2. 2025-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-11-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-10-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-04-06
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  7. 2022-04-06
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2022-04-06
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  9. 2022-04-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  10. 2022-04-01
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2022-04-01
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  12. 2022-04-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2022-02-24
    BIRRELL, Bruce Watson resigned
    director
  14. 2021-11-30
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  15. 2021-11-29
    CAIRNS, John Charles resigned
    director
  16. 2021-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2021-08-26
    SPENCE, Stuart Andrew resigned
    director
  18. 2021-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2020-10-22
    📄
    mortgage-alter-floating-charge-with-number
    mortgage · 466(Scot)
  20. 2020-10-22
    📄
    mortgage-alter-floating-charge-with-number
    mortgage · 466(Scot)
  21. 2020-10-22
    📄
    mortgage-alter-floating-charge-with-number
    mortgage · 466(Scot)
  22. 2020-10-21
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  23. 2020-10-21
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  24. 2020-10-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Mark Robertson
  25. 2020-10-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Bruce Birrell
  26. 2020-10-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Spence International Llc
  27. 2020-09-01
    ROBERTSON, Mark Patrick appointed
    director
  28. 2020-05-04
    CAIRNS, John Charles appointed
    director
  29. 2020-05-04
    SPENCE, Stuart Andrew appointed
    director
  30. 2017-03-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As OLDPALS (20250612) LIMITED
  31. 2017-03-20
    BIRRELL, Bruce Watson appointed
    director

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 med ·
Name changed recently
medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2026-01-14: certificate-change-of-name-company

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Mark Patrick Robertson
Individual · British · DOB 07/1968 · age 58
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting04/05/2020
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Spence International Llcceased 26/08/2021· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • Mr Bruce Watson Birrellceased 24/02/2022· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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

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
Incorporated2017-03-20
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71121 — Engineering design activities for industrial process and production

Registered office

2 Queens Terrace
St. Andrews
KY16 9QF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-02
Last: 2026-03-19

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

ROBERTSON, Mark Patrick
director · ~58y · appointed 2020-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BIRRELL, Bruce Watson
director · ~54y · appointed 2017-03-20 · resigned 2022-02-24
Resigned
CAIRNS, John Charles
director · ~70y · appointed 2020-05-04 · resigned 2021-11-29
Resigned
SPENCE, Stuart Andrew
director · ~57y · appointed 2020-05-04 · resigned 2021-08-26
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

3
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Mark Robertson
A registered charge08/10/2020
outstanding
Bruce Birrell
A registered charge08/10/2020
satisfied
Spence International
Spence International Llc
A registered charge08/10/202006/04/2022
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (48 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-15
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2026-01-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-14
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-04-06
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-04-06
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2022-04-06
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-04-01
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-04-01