SYNTHESIS WORKS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC757399 · ltd · incorporated 2023-02-02
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£2.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
66/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed professional-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 66/100 (strong), bankability 60/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
8 filings
60
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
66/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
50
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £2,299

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£2k
↑ 269% YoY
Current Assets
£8k
↑ 3901% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£1k£585£3k£4k£6k£8kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£2.3k£-1.4k
Current assets£8.4k£209
Cash£132
Debtors£77
Net assets£2.3k£-1.4k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (10 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-29
    QUEEN, Peter Andrew resigned
    director
  3. 2025-08-29
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2025-08-29
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2025-02-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-11-15
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  7. 2023-02-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SYNTHESIS WORKS LTD
  8. 2023-02-02
    SCHOFIELD, Paul Russell appointed
    director
  9. 2023-02-02
    QUEEN, Peter Andrew appointed
    director
  10. 2023-02-02
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 61 — 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 61. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-02-15

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Paul Russell Schofield
Individual · British · DOB 06/1965 · age 61
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting02/02/2023
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Peter Andrew Queenceased 29/08/2025· 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.

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2023-02-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

31 Burns Statue Square
Ayrshire, Ayr
KA7 1SU
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-02-15OVERDUE
Last: 2025-02-01

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

SCHOFIELD, Paul Russell
director · ~61y · appointed 2023-02-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
QUEEN, Peter Andrew
director · ~52y · appointed 2023-02-02 · resigned 2025-08-29
Resigned

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

Recent filings (8 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-30
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-08-29
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-08-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-15
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-11-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-14
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2023-02-02