APPROVED PACKAGING SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
01999352 · ltd · incorporated 1986-03-13
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
6 officers (1 active, 6 linked, 4 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
95 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees00

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 (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-01-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-06-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  10. 2017-06-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-11-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2016-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-12-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-10-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2011-07-30
    COOPER, Ietje resigned
    secretary
  17. 2011-07-30
    COOPER, Ietje resigned
    director
  18. 2009-03-12
    COOPER-ROLFE, Arjen Duncan appointed
    director
  19. 2009-03-12
    COOPER, Ietje appointed
    director
  20. 2009-03-01
    COOPER, Andrew Robert resigned
    director
  21. 1999-12-09
    HALL, Brian Charles resigned
    director
  22. 1999-10-29
    COOPER, Andrew Robert resigned
    secretary
  23. 1999-10-29
    COOPER, Ietje appointed
    secretary
  24. 1986-03-13
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APPROVED PACKAGING SERVICES LIMITED

Owner dependency

85/100
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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
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 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 40 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 Arjen Duncan Cooper-Rolfe
Individual · British · DOB 10/1976 · age 50
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · trust interest06/04/2016

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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15635827 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
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03476650 · est 1997 · no financials extracted
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12189132 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
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02361854 · est 1989 · no financials extracted
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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
Incorporated1986-03-13
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade

Registered office

Countrywide House
23 West Bar
Banbury
Oxfordshire
OX16 9SA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last: 2025-08-17

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

COOPER-ROLFE, Arjen Duncan
director · ~50y · appointed 2009-03-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COOPER, Andrew Robert
secretary · resigned 1999-10-29
Resigned
COOPER, Ietje
secretary · appointed 1999-10-29 · resigned 2011-07-30
Resigned
COOPER, Andrew Robert
director · ~80y · resigned 2009-03-01
Resigned
COOPER, Ietje
director · ~86y · appointed 2009-03-12 · resigned 2011-07-30
Resigned
HALL, Brian Charles
director · ~81y · resigned 1999-12-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (95 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-09-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-01-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-10-29