ABDO PUBLICATIONS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
02452893 · ltd · incorporated 1989-12-15
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 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Publishing of learned journals
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
10 officers (1 active, 10 linked, 7 with DOB)
84
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
95 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
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 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Average employees00

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-08-04
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  4. 2025-08-04
    📄
    withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
  5. 2024-10-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-08-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-05-30
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  8. 2023-05-30
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2023-05-30
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  10. 2023-05-25
    BRIDGE, Alistair James appointed
    director
  11. 2023-05-25
    GARRETT, Anthony Peter, Sir resigned
    secretary
  12. 2023-05-25
    GARRETT, Anthony Peter, Sir resigned
    director
  13. 2022-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2021-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2021-02-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2019-05-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-07-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-07-12
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC08
  19. 2017-03-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2016-06-19
    KIRK, Rosalind Mary resigned
    director
  21. 2015-04-30
    COUNTER, Duncan Charles resigned
    director
  22. 1999-04-01
    GARRETT, Anthony Peter, Sir appointed
    secretary
  23. 1999-04-01
    GARRETT, Anthony Peter, Sir appointed
    director
  24. 1999-03-31
    HUNT, Malcolm Peter John, Major General resigned
    secretary
  25. 1999-03-31
    HUNT, Malcolm Peter John, Major General resigned
    director
  26. 1995-04-12
    HUNT, Malcolm Peter John, Major General appointed
    secretary
  27. 1995-04-12
    ROSKILL, John Wentworth resigned
    secretary
  28. 1995-04-12
    HUNT, Malcolm Peter John, Major General appointed
    director
  29. 1995-04-12
    ROSKILL, John Wentworth resigned
    director
  30. 1993-02-25
    COUNTER, Duncan Charles appointed
    director
  31. 1993-01-20
    HALL, Peter Arthur resigned
    director
  32. 1989-12-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABDO PUBLICATIONS LIMITED

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Group structure

Association Of British Dispensing Opticians is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Association Of British Dispensing Opticians
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
ABDO PUBLICATIONS LIMITED
This company · 02452893

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Association Of British Dispensing Opticians
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/06/2017

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

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
Incorporated1989-12-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58141 — Publishing of learned journals

Registered office

Godmersham Park Mansions
Godmersham
Canterbury
CT4 7DT

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-20
Last: 2025-06-06

Officers (1 active · 9 resigned)

BRIDGE, Alistair James
director · ~56y · appointed 2023-05-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GARRETT, Anthony Peter, Sir
secretary · appointed 1999-04-01 · resigned 2023-05-25
Resigned
HUNT, Malcolm Peter John, Major General
secretary · appointed 1995-04-12 · resigned 1999-03-31
Resigned
ROSKILL, John Wentworth
secretary · resigned 1995-04-12
Resigned
COUNTER, Duncan Charles
director · ~77y · appointed 1993-02-25 · resigned 2015-04-30
Resigned
GARRETT, Anthony Peter, Sir
director · ~74y · appointed 1999-04-01 · resigned 2023-05-25
Resigned
HALL, Peter Arthur
director · ~74y · resigned 1993-01-20
Resigned
HUNT, Malcolm Peter John, Major General
director · ~88y · appointed 1995-04-12 · resigned 1999-03-31
Resigned
KIRK, Rosalind Mary
director · ~74y · resigned 2016-06-19
Resigned
ROSKILL, John Wentworth
director · ~91y · resigned 1995-04-12
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
2026-05-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-08-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-04
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2025-08-04
withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
2025-08-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-07
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-05-30
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-05-30
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-05-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-27