21ST CENTURY METAL TREATMENTS LTD

💤Zombieactive
12477014 · ltd · incorporated 2020-02-21
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Treatment and coating of metals
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. 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 (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
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
14 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£0Feb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-02-282024-02-29

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (10 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-03
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  2. 2025-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-05-13
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  4. 2024-08-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-03-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-04-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-02-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 21ST CENTURY METAL TREATMENTS LTD
  9. 2020-02-21
    IQBAL, Zafar, Lord appointed
    director
  10. 2020-02-21
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

88/100
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 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 6 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 64. 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

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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Lord Zafar Iqbal
Individual · British · DOB 02/1962 · age 64
75100%
75-100% shares21/02/2020

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

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
Incorporated2020-02-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25610 — Treatment and coating of metals

Registered office

20 Lilac Avenue
Perry Barr
Birmingham
Westmidlands
B44 8LX
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-06
Last: 2026-02-20

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

IQBAL, Zafar, Lord
director · ~64y · appointed 2020-02-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (14 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-06
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-06-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-06-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-02
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-08-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-03-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-04-12
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-02-21