DEAD END BREW MACHINE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC466984 · ltd · incorporated 2014-01-09
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£-69
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of beer
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 73/100 (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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

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
26 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
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 £69

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£69
↑ 95% YoY
Current Assets
£13k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£1k£2k£4k£7k£10k£13kJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£12.9k£13.0k
Current assets£12.9k£13.0k
Net assets£-69£-1.3k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-09-30
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2019-11-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-10-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-01-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2015-10-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-02-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-09-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2014-01-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DEAD END BREW MACHINE LIMITED
  17. 2014-01-09
    ➕
    LEWIS, Christopher appointed
    director

Owner dependency

80/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 years.
  • 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Chris Lewis
Individual · Irish,Northern Irish · DOB 09/1984 · age 42
25–50%
—25-50% shares09/01/2017

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

Similar companies

Active · Food & drink · EH postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
BOWL CONCEPT LTD→
SC881000 · est 2026 · no financials extracted
———————
CHICHI BAKERY LTD→
SC721229 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————4y——
COFFEE NEXUS LIMITED→
SC355513 · est 2009 · no financials extracted
————17y——
COLEBURN DISTILLERY LIMITED→
SC472994 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
————12y——
COOKALET LTD→
SC837881 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
COPPER COLUMN SPIRITS LIMITED→
SC623858 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
————7y——
COSMO PRODUCTS LIMITED→
SC111504 · est 1988 · no financials extracted
————37y——
CRAIGHOUSE LIMITED→
SC869724 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
CROFT VALLEY FOODS LIMITED→
SC413194 · est 2011 · no financials extracted
————14y——
CULT ROASTERS LTD→
SC744248 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————3y——
DARK ART GIN LIMITED→
SC559689 · est 2017 · no financials extracted
————9y——
DECOF LTD→
SC826706 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
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
Incorporated2014-01-09
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC11050 — Manufacture of beer

Registered office

316 Ferry Road
Edinburgh
EH5 3NP
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-23
Last: 2026-01-09

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

LEWIS, Christopher→
director · ~42y · appointed 2014-01-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (26 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-30
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-11-15