ACADEMY LABS LTD

💤Zombieactive
02029613 · ltd · incorporated 1986-06-19
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
£-30.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Business and domestic software development
Sector: Information & communication
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 62020Information technology consultancy activities
  • 62090Other information technology service activities
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 67). 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 (78/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 3 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 (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
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
101 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
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 · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £30,556
Net assets shrinking
Down £61,112 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£31k
↓ 200% YoY
Current Assets
-£31k
Current Liabilities
—
-£31k-£18k-£6k£6k£18k£31kJul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Total assets£-30.6k£100
Current assets£-30.7k—
Net assets£-30.6k£30.6k

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2022-04-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-04-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-05-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2016-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-02-03
    ➕
    KETLEY, Cheney Jon appointed
    secretary
  15. 2016-02-03
    ➖
    KETLEY, Laura Helen resigned
    secretary
  16. 2016-02-03
    ➖
    KETLEY, Laura Helen resigned
    director
  17. 2016-02-03
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  18. 2016-02-03
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  19. 2014-05-26
    ➕
    KETLEY, Laura Helen appointed
    secretary
  20. 2014-05-26
    ➕
    KETLEY, Laura Helen appointed
    director
  21. 2014-05-25
    ➖
    KETLEY, Jill Nicola resigned
    secretary
  22. 2014-05-25
    ➖
    KETLEY, Jill Nicola resigned
    director
  23. 1986-06-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACADEMY LABS LTD

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 67 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 40 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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 Cheney Jon Ketley
Individual · British · DOB 09/1959 · age 67
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/08/2016

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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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated1986-06-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC62012 — Business and domestic software development

Registered office

59 Broad Street
Clifton
Shefford
SG17 5RL
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-16
Last: 2026-05-02

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

KETLEY, Cheney Jon→
secretary · appointed 2016-02-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
KETLEY, Cheney Jon→
director · ~67y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
KETLEY, Jill Nicola→
secretary · resigned 2014-05-25
Resigned
KETLEY, Laura Helen→
secretary · appointed 2014-05-26 · resigned 2016-02-03
Resigned
KETLEY, Jill Nicola→
director · ~68y · resigned 2014-05-25
Resigned
KETLEY, Laura Helen→
director · ~39y · appointed 2014-05-26 · resigned 2016-02-03
Resigned

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

Recent filings (101 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-15
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-04-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-18