DARKSIDE DRILLING LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC202154 · ltd · incorporated 1999-12-06
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£180.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 06100
Sector: Mining & quarrying
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). 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 (67/100)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 (1 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
61 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 declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £180,920
Net assets shrinking
Down £11,709 YoY
Cash YoY
-4%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£196k
↓ 4.3% YoY
Net Worth
£181k
↓ 6.1% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £180.9k | £192.6k |
| Cash | £196.2k | £204.9k |
| Net assets | £180.9k | £192.6k |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-10-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-09-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-01-07📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-09-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-01-31📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-08-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-01-30📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2010-03-31➖WESTCOTT, Gordon William resignedsecretary
- 2006-02-03➖NORMINGTON, Ian resignedsecretary
- 2006-02-03➕WESTCOTT, Gordon William appointedsecretary
- 1999-12-06🏢Company incorporatedAs DARKSIDE DRILLING LIMITED
- 1999-12-06➕NORMINGTON, Eve appointeddirector
- 1999-12-06➕NORMINGTON, Ian appointedsecretary
- 1999-12-06➕BRIAN REID LTD. appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1999-12-06➖BRIAN REID LTD. resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1999-12-06➕STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 1999-12-06➖STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
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| DELMAR SYSTEMS LTD→ SC468814 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| DELTER LTD→ SC688819 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| DERMO VENTURES LIMITED→ SC577600 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated1999-12-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC06100 — SIC 06100
Registered office
16 Ringway Road
Waterside
Peterhead
Aberdeenshire
AB42 3BW
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-20
Last: 2025-12-06
Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)
NORMINGTON, Eve→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 1999-12-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
NORMINGTON, Ian→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1999-12-06 · resigned 2006-02-03
WESTCOTT, Gordon William→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2006-02-03 · resigned 2010-03-31
BRIAN REID LTD.→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-12-06 · resigned 1999-12-06
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-12-06 · resigned 1999-12-06
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (61 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-12-10