ARNATT ABREY BENNETT LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03721617 · ltd · incorporated 1999-02-26
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Specialised design activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 1 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
77 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
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£0Jan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Average employees300300

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 (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-06-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-06-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-08-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-05-28
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  9. 2019-05-28
    📄
    capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-shares
    capital · SH10
  10. 2019-05-28
    📄
    capital-name-of-class-of-shares
    capital · SH08
  11. 2019-04-17
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-04-16
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  13. 2019-04-16
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  14. 2019-03-08
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  15. 2019-03-01
    ➕
    BENNETT, Jacqueline Anne appointed
    secretary
  16. 2019-03-01
    ➖
    WEST, Douglas James resigned
    secretary
  17. 2018-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-10-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 1999-03-04
    ➕
    BENNETT, Neil appointed
    director
  20. 1999-03-04
    ➕
    WEST, Douglas James appointed
    secretary
  21. 1999-03-04
    ➖
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 1999-03-04
    ➖
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 1999-02-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARNATT ABREY BENNETT LIMITED
  24. 1999-02-26
    ➕
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1999-02-26
    ➕
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED appointed
    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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BENNETT" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 27 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 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 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 Neil Bennett
Individual · British · DOB 01/1969 · age 57
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/12/2016

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
Incorporated1999-02-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC74100 — Specialised design activities

Registered office

17 Walkergate
Berwick Upon Tweed
Northumberland
TD15 1DJ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-19
Last: 2025-06-05

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

BENNETT, Jacqueline Anne→
secretary · appointed 2019-03-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BENNETT, Neil→
director · ~57y · appointed 1999-03-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WEST, Douglas James→
secretary · appointed 1999-03-04 · resigned 2019-03-01
Resigned
BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-02-26 · resigned 1999-03-04
Resigned
BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-02-26 · resigned 1999-03-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (77 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-08-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-06-05
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2019-05-28