ARTWORK (MALVERN) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03448161 · ltd · incorporated 1997-10-10
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
£-8.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). 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
6 officers (1 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
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
70 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 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £8,611

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£9k
~ YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
-£9k-£9k-£9k-£9k-£9k-£9kJul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Total assets£-8.6k£-8.6k
Net assets£-8.6k£-8.6k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-10-14
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  6. 2021-08-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-02-19
    ➖
    NEWALL, Violet Annie resigned
    secretary
  9. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-10-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-04-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-11-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-04-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-02-14
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  17. 1999-06-02
    ➖
    HARFORD, Dawn Alison resigned
    secretary
  18. 1999-05-06
    ➕
    NEWALL, Violet Annie appointed
    secretary
  19. 1999-04-30
    ➖
    HARFORD, Michael John resigned
    director
  20. 1997-10-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARTWORK (MALVERN) LIMITED
  21. 1997-10-10
    ➕
    HARFORD, Dawn Alison appointed
    director
  22. 1997-10-10
    ➕
    HARFORD, Dawn Alison appointed
    secretary
  23. 1997-10-10
    ➕
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1997-10-10
    ➖
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1997-10-10
    ➕
    HARFORD, Michael John appointed
    director
  26. 1997-10-10
    ➕
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  27. 1997-10-10
    ➖
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-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 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • 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
Mrs Dawn Alison Harford
Individual · British · DOB 02/1957 · age 69
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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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———————
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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
Incorporated1997-10-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999

Registered office

Stone Hall Stone Drive
Colwall
Malvern
Worcestershire
WR13 6QN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-10
Last: 2025-09-26

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

HARFORD, Dawn Alison→
director · ~69y · appointed 1997-10-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARFORD, Dawn Alison→
secretary · appointed 1997-10-10 · resigned 1999-06-02
Resigned
NEWALL, Violet Annie→
secretary · appointed 1999-05-06 · resigned 2021-02-19
Resigned
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-10-10 · resigned 1997-10-10
Resigned
HARFORD, Michael John→
director · ~75y · appointed 1997-10-10 · resigned 1999-04-30
Resigned
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1997-10-10 · resigned 1997-10-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (70 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-14
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2021-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-30