APPLECART LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
01045691 · ltd · incorporated 1972-03-10
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Wholesale of clothing and footwear
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 68100Buying and selling of own real estate
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 71/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 18.9y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 18.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
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
105 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-052024-04-05
Average employees100100

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 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-01-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2018-12-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2018-12-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2018-06-07
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2018-03-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-01-08
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  15. 2017-02-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-01-20
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2010-12-30
    DAVIES, Mary Josephine resigned
    secretary
  18. 2007-07-30
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
  19. 2004-06-03
    NEWTON, Elayne Linda resigned
    director
  20. 1999-08-15
    DAVIES, Mary Josephine appointed
    secretary
  21. 1999-08-01
    NEWTON, Elayne Linda resigned
    secretary
  22. 1996-04-01
    NEWTON, Elayne Linda appointed
    director
  23. 1994-03-31
    DIX, Helen Amanda resigned
    secretary
  24. 1994-03-31
    NEWTON, Elayne Linda appointed
    secretary
  25. 1972-03-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APPLECART LIMITED

Owner dependency

90/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
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 77 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 54 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-01-14

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Philip Edward Newton
Individual · British · DOB 07/1949 · age 77
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control31/12/2016

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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A E CHAPMAN & SON LIMITED
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07772668 · est 2011 · no financials extracted
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16927964 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
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14302613 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
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14774154 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
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AMS GRAPHIC MACHINERY LIMITED
05388059 · est 2005 · no financials extracted
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ANJANI FASHION & RETAIL PVT LTD
16607631 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
ANTHONY ROWCLIFFE AND SON LIMITED
02213734 · est 1988 · no financials extracted
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APOLLO BAGS LIMITED
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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
Incorporated1972-03-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46420 — Wholesale of clothing and footwear

Registered office

Copthorne Business Suite
Copthorne Way
Copthorne
West Sussex
RH10 3PG
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-05
Last made up to: 2025-04-05
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-01-14OVERDUE
Last: 2024-12-31

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

NEWTON, Philip Edward
director · ~77y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAVIES, Mary Josephine
secretary · appointed 1999-08-15 · resigned 2010-12-30
Resigned
DIX, Helen Amanda
secretary · resigned 1994-03-31
Resigned
NEWTON, Elayne Linda
secretary · appointed 1994-03-31 · resigned 1999-08-01
Resigned
NEWTON, Elayne Linda
director · ~72y · appointed 1996-04-01 · resigned 2004-06-03
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
Mortgage deed1 property30/07/2007
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (105 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-01-05