DRIVE BUSINESS SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC310085 · ltd · incorporated 2006-10-12
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£3.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 30990
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 69201Accounting and auditing activities
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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 (79/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 2 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
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
48 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
Positive net assets
Net assets £3,242
Net assets shrinking
Down £1,320 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£3k
↓ 29% YoY
Current Assets
£19k
↑ 21% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£4k£8k£12k£15k£19kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£3.2k£4.6k
Current assets£19.4k£16.0k
Net assets£3.2k£4.6k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-05-19
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2023-05-18
    ➖
    MACKENZIE, Isabelle Anne resigned
    director
  5. 2023-04-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-04-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-07-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-11-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-10-12
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  10. 2020-10-12
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2020-10-10
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Isabelle Anne appointed
    director
  12. 2020-10-10
    ➖
    MACKENZIE, Isabelle Anne resigned
    director
  13. 2020-05-26
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Isabelle Anne appointed
    director
  14. 2020-05-26
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  15. 2019-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2019-10-14
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  17. 2019-10-01
    ➖
    MACKENZIE, Isabelle Anne resigned
    secretary
  18. 2018-12-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2017-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  20. 2017-12-06
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  21. 2016-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  22. 2006-10-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DRIVE BUSINESS SERVICES LIMITED
  23. 2006-10-12
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Donald Matheson appointed
    director
  24. 2006-10-12
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Isabelle Anne appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

93/100
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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

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.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Donald Matheson Mackenzie
Individual · British · DOB 03/1962 · age 64
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated2006-10-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC30990 — SIC 30990

Registered office

52 Crown Drive
Inverness
IV2 3QG

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-26
Last: 2025-10-12

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

MACKENZIE, Donald Matheson→
director · ~64y · appointed 2006-10-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACKENZIE, Isabelle Anne→
secretary · appointed 2006-10-12 · resigned 2019-10-01
Resigned
MACKENZIE, Isabelle Anne→
director · ~67y · appointed 2020-10-10 · resigned 2023-05-18
Resigned
MACKENZIE, Isabelle Anne→
director · ~67y · appointed 2020-05-26 · resigned 2020-10-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (48 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-16
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-05-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-13
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2020-10-12
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-10-12