ALAN CROSS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
01741214 · ltd · incorporated 1983-07-21
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 Aug 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
69/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of office and shop furniture
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 31090Manufacture of other furniture
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed admin-neglect survivor — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 69/100 (strong), bankability 60/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (53/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 22.5y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 22.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
93 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
69/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
55
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£0Aug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Average employees100100

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-10-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-08-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-08-10
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  8. 2020-08-07
    COLEMAN, Robin Charles resigned
    secretary
  9. 2019-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-10-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2017-09-30
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2017-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-09-25
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2004-02-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  18. 2003-09-03
    COLEMAN, Robin Charles appointed
    secretary
  19. 2003-09-03
    CROSS, Simon Lloyd resigned
    secretary
  20. 2003-05-06
    CROSS, Alan Edward resigned
    director
  21. 1983-07-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ALAN CROSS LIMITED

Owner dependency

98/100
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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "CROSS" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
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.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 43 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-05-31

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Simon Lloyd Cross
Individual · British · DOB 02/1964 · age 62
75100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence30/06/2016

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

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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
Incorporated1983-07-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC31010 — Manufacture of office and shop furniture

Registered office

1 Lamorna Court 43 Wollaton Road
Beeston
Nottingham
NG9 2NG
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-07
Last: 2025-09-23

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

CROSS, Simon Lloyd
director · ~62y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COLEMAN, Robin Charles
secretary · appointed 2003-09-03 · resigned 2020-08-07
Resigned
CROSS, Simon Lloyd
secretary · resigned 2003-09-03
Resigned
CROSS, Alan Edward
director · ~93y · resigned 2003-05-06
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
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Debenture1 property02/02/2004
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (93 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-24
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2020-08-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-05-29