APPS PLUS LTD

💤Zombieactive
03284331 · ltd · incorporated 1996-11-27
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 Nov 2025
Net worth
£-33.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-trading company
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed dormant / non-trading — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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 (77/100)

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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
83 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 · FRS 102
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £33,052
Cash YoY
+16%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£2k
↑ 16% YoY
Net Worth
-£33k
↓ 1.4% YoY
Current Assets
£2k
↓ 4.9% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£33k-£26k-£19k-£12k-£5k£3kNov 2024Nov 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-11-302024-11-30
Total assets£-33.1k£-32.6k
Current assets£2.4k£2.6k
Cash£1.6k£1.4k
Net assets£-33.1k£-32.6k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-03-05
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2023-08-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-07-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-08-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-08-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-01-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-08-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-01-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 1996-12-17
    ➕
    HARDCASTLE, Gail Frances appointed
    secretary
  17. 1996-12-17
    ➕
    BARNARD, James Bret appointed
    director
  18. 1996-12-17
    ➖
    L.O. NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  19. 1996-12-17
    ➖
    L.O.DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  20. 1996-11-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APPS PLUS LTD
  21. 1996-11-27
    ➕
    L.O. NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 1996-11-27
    ➕
    L.O.DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 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 James Bret Barnard
Individual · British · DOB 04/1968 · age 58
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated1996-11-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC74990 — Non-trading company

Registered office

71-75 Shelton Street
London
WC2H 9JQ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-08-31
Last made up to: 2025-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-11
Last: 2025-11-27

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

HARDCASTLE, Gail Frances→
secretary · appointed 1996-12-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BARNARD, James Bret→
director · ~58y · appointed 1996-12-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
L.O. NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-11-27 · resigned 1996-12-17
Resigned
L.O.DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1996-11-27 · resigned 1996-12-17
Resigned

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

Recent filings (83 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-29
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-03-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-04