CROFT TRADING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03780405 · ltd · incorporated 1999-06-01
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
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 73). 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 (1 active, 7 linked, 2 with DOB)
76
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
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.

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 · FRS 102
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-03-31
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  2. 2025-03-31
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-02-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-02-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-03-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-06-01
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2022-02-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-10-13
    ➖
    SEARLES, Peter Charles resigned
    secretary
  9. 2021-10-13
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  10. 2021-10-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-01-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-11-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-09-29
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  16. 2017-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2008-11-10
    ➖
    PREVEL, Anastasia Susan resigned
    secretary
  18. 2008-11-10
    ➕
    SEARLES, Peter Charles appointed
    secretary
  19. 2007-05-01
    ➖
    LEGGETT, David Arthur resigned
    secretary
  20. 2007-05-01
    ➕
    PREVEL, Anastasia Susan appointed
    secretary
  21. 2006-08-11
    ➖
    FLOYD, Richard William resigned
    director
  22. 1999-06-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CROFT TRADING LIMITED
  23. 1999-06-01
    ➕
    LEGGETT, David Arthur appointed
    director
  24. 1999-06-01
    ➕
    LEGGETT, David Arthur appointed
    secretary
  25. 1999-06-01
    ➕
    ALPHA SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 1999-06-01
    ➖
    ALPHA SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 1999-06-01
    ➕
    FLOYD, Richard William appointed
    director
  28. 1999-06-01
    ➕
    ALPHA DIRECT LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  29. 1999-06-01
    ➖
    ALPHA DIRECT 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 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — 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 73 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 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 David Arthur Leggett
Individual · British · DOB 05/1953 · age 73
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated1999-06-01
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999

Registered office

Centauri House
Hillbottom Road
High Wycombe
HP12 4HQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-12
Last: 2026-05-29

Officers (1 active · 6 resigned)

LEGGETT, David Arthur→
director · ~73y · appointed 1999-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LEGGETT, David Arthur→
secretary · appointed 1999-06-01 · resigned 2007-05-01
Resigned
PREVEL, Anastasia Susan→
secretary · appointed 2007-05-01 · resigned 2008-11-10
Resigned
SEARLES, Peter Charles→
secretary · appointed 2008-11-10 · resigned 2021-10-13
Resigned
ALPHA SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-06-01 · resigned 1999-06-01
Resigned
FLOYD, Richard William→
director · ~74y · appointed 1999-06-01 · resigned 2006-08-11
Resigned
ALPHA DIRECT LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-06-01 · resigned 1999-06-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (70 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-02
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-03-31
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-03-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-02-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-02-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-01
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-02
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2021-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-28