ABBOTSBURY ENGINEERING LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
02268803 · ltd · incorporated 1988-06-17
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 Sept 2023
Net worth
£932.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 28990
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 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
1 live charge · oldest 26.7y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 26.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (71/100)Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.
Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
93 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £932,937
Key financials
1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£933k
Current Assets
£978k
Current Liabilities
—
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2023-09-30 |
|---|---|
| Total assets | £935.2k |
| Current assets | £977.7k |
| Net assets | £932.9k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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 (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-07-10📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2025-04-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-02-15📄capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-sharescapital · SH10
- 2018-02-15📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2018-02-12📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2017-02-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 1999-09-20🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1999-08-01➕O'CARROLL, Anita Muriel appointedsecretary
- 1999-08-01➖OCARROLL, Anita resignedsecretary
- 1988-06-17🏢Company incorporatedAs ABBOTSBURY ENGINEERING LIMITED
Owner dependency
90/100
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.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
85/100
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 70 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 38 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Dennis O'Carroll Individual · British · DOB 08/1956 · age 70 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 30/09/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
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| 3D GIFT LTD→ 16169438 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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| A1 FABRICATION LIMITED→ 10851503 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| A1 STEEL LIMITED→ 02211952 · est 1988 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 38y | — | — |
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| AB JOINERY KITCHENS & BEDROOMS LIMITED→ 11100736 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ABACUS TUBULAR PRODUCTS LIMITED→ 01903212 · est 1985 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 41y | — | — |
| ABAX UK LIMITED→ 07764543 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| ABC CNC AND FABRICATIONS LTD→ 15797670 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ABC LUTHERIE LTD→ 06762270 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| ABC MOTORCYCLES LTD→ 15403918 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ABH MAINTENANCE SERVICES LTD→ 14348493 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1988-06-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC28990 — SIC 28990
Registered office
5 Cromwell Terrace
St Ives
Cambridgeshire
PE27 5JE
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-19
Last: 2025-06-05
Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)
O'CARROLL, Anita Muriel→
Activesecretary · appointed 1999-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OCARROLL, Anita→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 1999-08-01
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
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 20/09/1999 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (93 total)
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-07-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-20