STARSTEP LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC682661 · ltd · incorporated 2020-12-02
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
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Turnover
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£-74
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

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 (79/100)

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
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
13 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £74
Net assets shrinking
Down £90 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
-£74
↓ 563% YoY
Current Assets
£3k
↓ 2.6% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£74£640£1k£2k£3k£3kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£-74£16
Current assets£3.4k£3.5k
Net assets£-74£16

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 (10 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-03-17
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2021-03-17
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2021-01-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2020-12-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As STARSTEP LTD
  9. 2020-12-02
    PAISLEY, Martin William appointed
    director
  10. 2020-12-02
    📄
    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 62 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 5 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
  • 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
Mr Martin William Paisley
Individual · British · DOB 03/1964 · age 62
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control02/12/2020

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
Incorporated2020-12-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

Pavilion 2 Finnieston Business Park
Minerva Way
Glasgow
G3 8AU
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-15
Last: 2025-12-01

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

PAISLEY, Martin William
director · ~62y · appointed 2020-12-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (13 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-03-17
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-03-17
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-01-09
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-12-02