ALK TRADING LTD

💤Zombieactive

SC594788 · ltd · incorporated 2018-04-19

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

£-58.3k

book net assets

Opportunity

75/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Public houses and bars

Sector: Accommodation & food service

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Deleverage or restructure. Leverage at 100% of assets — consider sale of non-core assets or equity injection. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

10 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

23 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

75/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Adequate — check latest filings for context.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £58,265

High leverage

Liabilities are 100% of total assets

Leverage

100%

Liabilities / Total assets

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

-£58k

↓ 97% YoY

Current Assets

£13k

↓ 8.4% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Total assets	£15.6k	£16.7k
Current assets	£12.6k	£13.7k
Net assets	£-58.3k	£-29.6k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2026-01-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-07
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-03-07
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-01-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-19
📄
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-04-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-13
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-04-13
📄
dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2023-03-28
📄
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2022-03-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-13
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-06-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-04-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-02-27
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2018-04-19
🏢
Company incorporated
As ALK TRADING LTD
2018-04-19
➕
KEARNEY, John Joseph appointed
director
2018-04-19
📄
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 66 — succession pressure is live.
+No director turnover: Company is 8 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 low

Multiple registered office changes

low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John Joseph Kearney Individual · British · DOB 06/1960 · age 66	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	19/04/2018

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 · Hospitality · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
OMNI TAVERNS LTD.→ SC307655 · est 2006	£2.84M £2.13M–£3.55M	—	—	8600	19y	87	60y
ADJUSTLIGHT LIMITED→ SC139599 · est 1992 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	33y	83	58y
ARCHERFIELD HOUSE HOTEL MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ SC272735 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	83	79y
COURT HOTEL SUITES LIMITED→ SC373209 · est 2010	—	—	£553.1k	—	16y	83	64y
DESTINATION EDINBURGH LIMITED→ SC357298 · est 2009	—	—	£254.5k	—	17y	83	58y
ELITE HOTELS LIMITED→ SC103199 · est 1987	—	—	—	0	39y	83	76y
J J BEAM LIMITED→ SC132477 · est 1991	—	—	—	18	34y	83	74y
MORAG'S LODGES LIMITED→ SC192271 · est 1998 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	27y	83	61y
VENISON ADVISORY SERVICE LTD→ SC423023 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	—	—
WEF LEISURE LTD→ SC590596 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
WESTNOTE BAR COMPANY LTD→ SC624624 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
YANXIA LTD→ SC727265 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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

Incorporated2018-04-19

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC56302 — Public houses and bars

Registered office

Unit 3 Satellite Park

Macmerry

EH33 1RY

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-02

Last: 2025-04-18

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

KEARNEY, John Joseph→

director · ~66y · appointed 2018-04-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (23 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2026-01-22

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2025-10-07

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-05-02

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2025-03-07

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-01-15

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-04-29

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-01-09

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-05-21

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date

gazette · DISS40

2023-04-19

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-04-18

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2023-04-13

dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended

dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)

2023-04-13

gazette-notice-compulsory

gazette · GAZ1

2023-03-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-05-19

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-03-21