SPANNER LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03376238 · ltd · incorporated 1997-05-27
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other information technology service activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (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 (75/100)

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
9 officers (2 active, 9 linked, 2 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
86 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
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£0Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Average employees1100

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 (35 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-08-09
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  4. 2025-07-29
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  5. 2024-04-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-08-02
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  8. 2023-08-01
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  9. 2022-02-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-07-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2021-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-12-02
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  13. 2020-12-01
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  14. 2020-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-09-01
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  17. 2018-08-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2018-07-31
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  19. 2014-04-01
    ➕
    ROSS, Susan appointed
    secretary
  20. 2014-04-01
    ➖
    GOFFE, James Robert resigned
    secretary
  21. 2009-05-27
    ➖
    ENTWISLE, Christine resigned
    secretary
  22. 2009-05-27
    ➕
    GOFFE, James Robert appointed
    secretary
  23. 2007-03-27
    ➕
    ENTWISLE, Christine appointed
    secretary
  24. 2007-03-27
    ➖
    MKL SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  25. 2002-05-01
    ➖
    ARMSTRONG, Rachel Helen resigned
    secretary
  26. 2002-05-01
    ➕
    MKL SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  27. 2002-05-01
    ➖
    ARMSTRONG, Frances Naomi resigned
    director
  28. 2000-11-24
    ➕
    ARMSTRONG, Rachel Helen appointed
    secretary
  29. 2000-11-24
    ➖
    EARNSHAW, Helena Dawn resigned
    secretary
  30. 1997-05-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SPANNER LIMITED
  31. 1997-05-27
    ➕
    ROSS, William Robert appointed
    director
  32. 1997-05-27
    ➕
    EARNSHAW, Helena Dawn appointed
    secretary
  33. 1997-05-27
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  34. 1997-05-27
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  35. 1997-05-27
    ➕
    ARMSTRONG, Frances Naomi appointed
    director

Owner dependency

85/100
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 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 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 William Robert Ross
Individual · British · DOB 12/1969 · age 57
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/07/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Incorporated1997-05-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC62090 — Other information technology service activities

Registered office

Cheesepress Cottage
Scales
Ulverston
Cumbria
LA12 0PF

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-10
Last: 2025-05-27

Officers (2 active · 7 resigned)

ROSS, Susan→
secretary · appointed 2014-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ROSS, William Robert→
director · ~57y · appointed 1997-05-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ARMSTRONG, Rachel Helen→
secretary · appointed 2000-11-24 · resigned 2002-05-01
Resigned
EARNSHAW, Helena Dawn→
secretary · appointed 1997-05-27 · resigned 2000-11-24
Resigned
ENTWISLE, Christine→
secretary · appointed 2007-03-27 · resigned 2009-05-27
Resigned
GOFFE, James Robert→
secretary · appointed 2009-05-27 · resigned 2014-04-01
Resigned
MKL SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2002-05-01 · resigned 2007-03-27
Resigned
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-05-27 · resigned 1997-05-27
Resigned
ARMSTRONG, Frances Naomi→
director · ~54y · appointed 1997-05-27 · resigned 2002-05-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (86 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-05-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-21
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-08-09
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-16
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-08-02
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-08-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-21
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-07-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-08