MACHINES (U.K.) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC193099 · ltd · incorporated 1999-02-03
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
£-79.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 28990
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 73). 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
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
63 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £79,892
Cash YoY
-27%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£787
↓ 27% YoY
Net Worth
-£80k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£827
Current Liabilities
—
-£80k-£64k-£48k-£31k-£15k£1kFeb 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
Total assets£-79.9k£-79.6k
Current assets£827—
Cash£787£1.1k
Debtors£40—
Net assets£-79.9k£-79.6k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
3
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
  • • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
  • • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-29
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  2. 2026-04-29
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-11-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-11-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-10-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-11-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-10-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-03-17
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-02-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 1999-10-01
    ➕
    VAN DER ENDE, Eve Kathleen appointed
    secretary
  17. 1999-02-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As MACHINES (U.K.) LIMITED
  18. 1999-02-03
    ➕
    VAN DER ENDE, Andre Martin appointed
    director
  19. 1999-02-03
    ➕
    TRAINER, Diane appointed
    nominee-secretary
  20. 1999-02-03
    ➖
    TRAINER, Diane resigned
    nominee-secretary
  21. 1999-02-03
    ➕
    MCINTOSH, Susan appointed
    nominee-director
  22. 1999-02-03
    ➖
    MCINTOSH, Susan resigned
    nominee-director
  23. 1999-02-03
    ➕
    TRAINER, Peter appointed
    nominee-director
  24. 1999-02-03
    ➖
    TRAINER, Peter resigned
    nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Andre Martin Van Der Ende
Individual · British · DOB 04/1953 · age 73
25–50%
—25-50% shares02/02/2017
Mrs Eve Van Der Ende
Individual · British · DOB 12/1952 · age 74
25–50%
—25-50% shares02/02/2017

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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GRAY & ADAMS LIMITED→
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——1639y8571y
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
Incorporated1999-02-03
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC28990 — SIC 28990

Registered office

19 Bon Accord Crescent
Aberdeen
AB11 6DE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-17
Last: 2026-02-03

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

VAN DER ENDE, Eve Kathleen→
secretary · appointed 1999-10-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
VAN DER ENDE, Andre Martin→
director · ~73y · appointed 1999-02-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TRAINER, Diane→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-02-03 · resigned 1999-02-03
Resigned
MCINTOSH, Susan→
nominee-director · ~56y · appointed 1999-02-03 · resigned 1999-02-03
Resigned
TRAINER, Peter→
nominee-director · ~74y · appointed 1999-02-03 · resigned 1999-02-03
Resigned

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

Recent filings (63 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-29
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-10