APPSHERPAS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03682604 · ltd · incorporated 1998-12-14
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Business and domestic software development
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company 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 (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
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
71 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees100100

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-22
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  2. 2025-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-12-12
    ➖
    GIBSON, Jonathan resigned
    director
  4. 2024-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-02-05
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  8. 2022-01-27
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  9. 2022-01-27
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  10. 2022-01-27
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  11. 2022-01-27
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  12. 2022-01-21
    ➕
    GIBSON, Graeme Jon appointed
    secretary
  13. 2022-01-14
    ➖
    GIBSON, Hilary Anne resigned
    secretary
  14. 2022-01-14
    ➖
    GIBSON, Hilary Anne resigned
    director
  15. 2021-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2020-09-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2019-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2018-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  19. 2017-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  20. 2015-08-01
    ➕
    GIBSON, Jonathan appointed
    director
  21. 1998-12-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APPSHERPAS LIMITED
  22. 1998-12-14
    ➕
    GIBSON, Graeme Jon appointed
    director
  23. 1998-12-14
    ➕
    GIBSON, Hilary Anne appointed
    secretary
  24. 1998-12-14
    ➕
    NOMINEE SECRETARIES LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1998-12-14
    ➖
    NOMINEE SECRETARIES LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 1998-12-14
    ➕
    GIBSON, Hilary Anne appointed
    director
  27. 1998-12-14
    ➕
    NOMINEE DIRECTORS LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  28. 1998-12-14
    ➖
    NOMINEE DIRECTORS LTD 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 28 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 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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 Graeme Jon Gibson
Individual · English · DOB 10/1954 · age 72
75–100%
—75-100% shares14/01/2022
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Hilary Anne Gibsonceased 14/01/2022· 25-50% shares

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
Incorporated1998-12-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC62012 — Business and domestic software development

Registered office

Setters High Street
Castle Camps
Cambridge
CB21 4SN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-27
Last: 2025-12-13

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

GIBSON, Graeme Jon→
secretary · appointed 2022-01-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GIBSON, Graeme Jon→
director · ~72y · appointed 1998-12-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GIBSON, Hilary Anne→
secretary · appointed 1998-12-14 · resigned 2022-01-14
Resigned
NOMINEE SECRETARIES LTD→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-12-14 · resigned 1998-12-14
Resigned
GIBSON, Hilary Anne→
director · ~71y · appointed 1998-12-14 · resigned 2022-01-14
Resigned
GIBSON, Jonathan→
director · ~34y · appointed 2015-08-01 · resigned 2025-12-12
Resigned
NOMINEE DIRECTORS LTD→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-12-14 · resigned 1998-12-14
Resigned

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

Recent filings (71 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-22
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-12-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-27
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-02-05
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2022-01-27
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-01-27
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2022-01-27
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-13