ACTIVE BUSINESS CONSULTANTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
02655658 · ltd · incorporated 1991-10-18
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 Oct 2024
Net worth
£29.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 82110Combined office administrative service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). 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 (73/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
9 officers (1 active, 9 linked, 5 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
101 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £29,167

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£29k
Current Assets
£25k
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-30
Total assets£29.2k
Current assets£24.7k
Net assets£29.2k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (33 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-30
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  3. 2024-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-05-18
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2020-04-20
    ➖
    LAWLOR, Margherita resigned
    director
  9. 2020-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-10-01
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  11. 2019-07-10
    ➕
    LAWLOR, Margherita appointed
    director
  12. 2019-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-01-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-01-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2016-01-28
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  17. 2016-01-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2008-08-12
    ➖
    LAWLOR, Margherita resigned
    secretary
  19. 2004-04-30
    ➖
    HAUGHEY, Faith Ellen resigned
    secretary
  20. 2004-04-30
    ➕
    LAWLOR, Margherita appointed
    secretary
  21. 1997-09-30
    ➕
    HAUGHEY, Faith Ellen appointed
    secretary
  22. 1997-09-30
    ➖
    HEAP, Richard Geoffrey resigned
    secretary
  23. 1997-09-30
    ➖
    HEAP, Richard Geoffrey resigned
    director
  24. 1994-09-30
    ➖
    TWINBERROW, Martin resigned
    director
  25. 1993-11-30
    ➕
    TWINBERROW, Martin appointed
    director
  26. 1991-10-21
    ➕
    LAWLOR, Paul Andrew appointed
    director
  27. 1991-10-21
    ➖
    BREWER, Kevin, Dr resigned
    nominee-secretary
  28. 1991-10-21
    ➕
    HEAP, Richard Geoffrey appointed
    secretary
  29. 1991-10-21
    ➖
    BREWER, Kevin, Dr resigned
    nominee-director
  30. 1991-10-21
    ➕
    HEAP, Richard Geoffrey appointed
    director
  31. 1991-10-18
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACTIVE BUSINESS CONSULTANTS LIMITED
  32. 1991-10-18
    ➕
    BREWER, Kevin, Dr appointed
    nominee-secretary
  33. 1991-10-18
    ➕
    BREWER, Kevin, Dr appointed
    nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 35 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 72 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 35 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 35 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

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 Paul Andrew Lawlor
Individual · Irish · DOB 12/1954 · age 72
75–100%
—75-100% shares30/06/2016

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
Incorporated1991-10-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

9 Castle Court ( 11)
Castlegate Way
Dudley
West Midlands
DY1 4RH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-30
Last made up to: 2024-10-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last: 2026-03-17

Officers (1 active · 8 resigned)

LAWLOR, Paul Andrew→
director · ~72y · appointed 1991-10-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BREWER, Kevin, Dr→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1991-10-18 · resigned 1991-10-21
Resigned
HAUGHEY, Faith Ellen→
secretary · appointed 1997-09-30 · resigned 2004-04-30
Resigned
HEAP, Richard Geoffrey→
secretary · appointed 1991-10-21 · resigned 1997-09-30
Resigned
LAWLOR, Margherita→
secretary · appointed 2004-04-30 · resigned 2008-08-12
Resigned
BREWER, Kevin, Dr→
nominee-director · ~74y · appointed 1991-10-18 · resigned 1991-10-21
Resigned
HEAP, Richard Geoffrey→
director · ~73y · appointed 1991-10-21 · resigned 1997-09-30
Resigned
LAWLOR, Margherita→
director · ~73y · appointed 2019-07-10 · resigned 2020-04-20
Resigned
TWINBERROW, Martin→
director · ~79y · appointed 1993-11-30 · resigned 1994-09-30
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
2026-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-01
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-17
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-05-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-17