ASHLEY INSURANCE SERVICES LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
02154403 · ltd · incorporated 1987-08-12
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£4.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Non-life insurance
Sector: Financial & insurance
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 65202Non-life reinsurance
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 74). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 37.9y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 37.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (69/100)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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
108 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Positive net assets
Net assets £3,970
Key financials
1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£4k
Current Assets
£20k
Current Liabilities
—
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-03-31 |
|---|---|
| Current assets | £20.2k |
| Net assets | £4.0k |
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
3
filings
- • 2 dissolution
- • 1 gazette
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
- 2026-02-12📄dissolution-withdrawal-application-strike-off-companydissolution · DS02
- 2025-12-16📄gazette-notice-voluntarygazette · GAZ1(A)
- 2025-12-08📄dissolution-application-strike-off-companydissolution · DS01
- 2025-11-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-09-24📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2024-07-22📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-07-22📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-04-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-12📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-05-27📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2022-05-27📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2022-03-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-26📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-02-26📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-02-26📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2012-08-30➖GRIZANS, Anton John resignedsecretary
- 2001-08-13➖COOK, Karen Elaine resignedsecretary
- 2001-08-13➕GRIZANS, Anton John appointedsecretary
- 1995-06-23🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1994-07-12➖COOK, Karen Elaine resigneddirector
- 1993-10-29➖CARRICK, Allan resignedsecretary
- 1993-10-29➕COOK, Karen Elaine appointedsecretary
- 1988-06-24🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1987-08-14➕COOK, Graham Douglas appointeddirector
- 1987-08-12🏢Company incorporatedAs ASHLEY INSURANCE SERVICES LIMITED
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 39 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
100/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 39 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 39 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
cleanNo 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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Graham Douglas Cook Individual · British · DOB 02/1952 · age 74 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACCELERATE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LTD→ 15706564 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AJRB LTD→ 12236968 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| AL CLAIMS VALIDATION SERVICES LTD→ 14143932 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ALVESTOKE FINANCE LIMITED→ 08443392 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| ASKEY & SUTCLIFFE ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ 05277369 · est 2004 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| ASPIRA MORTGAGE AND PROTECTION ADVICE LTD→ 17029536 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ATLANTA 1 INSURANCE SERVICES LIMITED→ 03642372 · est 1998 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 27y | — | — |
| AW HOLDINGS & INVESTMENTS LTD→ 16388430 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BALL CAPITAL INVESTMENT LIMITED→ 07587493 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| BARKERS FINANCE LTD→ 10296209 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| BARNETT & MERRIMAN LIMITED→ 12559940 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| BARRIE HOUGH SERVICES (STOKE ON TRENT) LIMITED→ 04360345 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1987-08-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC65120 — Non-life insurance
Registered office
Unit 1 42 High Street
Eccleshall
Stafford
ST21 6BZ
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-26
Last: 2025-07-12
Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)
COOK, Graham Douglas→
Activedirector · ~74y · appointed 1987-08-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CARRICK, Allan→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 1993-10-29
COOK, Karen Elaine→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1993-10-29 · resigned 2001-08-13
GRIZANS, Anton John→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2001-08-13 · resigned 2012-08-30
COOK, Karen Elaine→
Resigneddirector · ~66y · resigned 1994-07-12
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Deed of charge over credit balances | 1 property | 23/06/1995 | — | |
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Legal charge | 1 property | 24/06/1988 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (108 total)
dissolution-withdrawal-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS02
2026-02-12
gazette-notice-voluntary
gazette · GAZ1(A)
2025-12-16
dissolution-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS01
2025-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-17
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-07-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-24
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-07-12
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2022-05-27