ABCO DESIGN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
02593942 · ltd · incorporated 1991-03-21
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
£22.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 87-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 87). 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, 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 (2 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
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
83 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
Positive net assets
Net assets £22,258
Net assets shrinking
Down £632 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£22k
↓ 2.8% YoY
Current Assets
£28
↓ 6.7% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£5k£9k£14k£18k£23kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£150£230
Current assets£28£30
Net assets£22.3k£22.9k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-05
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  3. 2025-03-04
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  4. 2025-03-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-05-20
    ➕
    HOLMES, Peter, Dr appointed
    director
  10. 2020-05-20
    ➖
    HOLMES, Joachim Derek resigned
    director
  11. 2020-05-20
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  12. 2020-05-20
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2019-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-05-01
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2018-04-27
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  17. 2018-01-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 1993-01-08
    ➕
    HOLMES, Elfriede appointed
    secretary
  19. 1993-01-08
    ➖
    PAPANICOLAOU, Paula resigned
    secretary
  20. 1991-03-25
    ➕
    PAPANICOLAOU, Paula appointed
    secretary
  21. 1991-03-25
    ➖
    SEMKEN LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 1991-03-25
    ➕
    HOLMES, Joachim Derek appointed
    director
  23. 1991-03-25
    ➖
    LUFMER LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 1991-03-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABCO DESIGN LIMITED
  25. 1991-03-21
    ➕
    SEMKEN LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 1991-03-21
    ➕
    LUFMER LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

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 87 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 87 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 35 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Dr Peter Holmes
Individual · British · DOB 09/1939 · age 87
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016

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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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
Incorporated1991-03-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Registered office

21 Colin Drive
London
NW9 6ES

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-04
Last: 2026-03-21

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

HOLMES, Elfriede→
secretary · appointed 1993-01-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HOLMES, Peter, Dr→
director · ~87y · appointed 2020-05-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PAPANICOLAOU, Paula→
secretary · appointed 1991-03-25 · resigned 1993-01-08
Resigned
SEMKEN LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1991-03-21 · resigned 1991-03-25
Resigned
HOLMES, Joachim Derek→
director · ~59y · appointed 1991-03-25 · resigned 2020-05-20
Resigned
LUFMER LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1991-03-21 · resigned 1991-03-25
Resigned

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

Recent filings (83 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-22
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-03-05
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-20