AD-VENTURE MEDIA LTD.

💤Zombieactive

04030107 · ltd · incorporated 2000-07-10

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

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Advertising agencies

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). 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 (76/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

59 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-07-31	2024-07-31
Total assets	—	£7.8k
Current assets	—	£9.6k
Net assets	—	£7.8k
Average employees	2	—

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

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2026-04-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-03-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-03-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-03-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2015-07-12
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-03-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-07-27
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2011-03-31
➕
SHEPHARD, Susan Elizabeth appointed
director
2011-03-31
➖
SHEPHARD, Allan Charles resigned
director
2000-07-10
🏢
Company incorporated
As AD-VENTURE MEDIA LTD.
2000-07-10
➕
SHEPHARD, Susan Elizabeth appointed
secretary
2000-07-10
➕
FIRST SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2000-07-10
➖
FIRST SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2000-07-10
➕
SHEPHARD, Allan Charles appointed
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 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100

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 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Susan Elizabeth Shephard Individual · British · DOB 09/1958 · age 68	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	10/07/2016
Mr Allan Charles Shephard Individual · British · DOB 11/1961 · age 65	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	10/07/2016

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

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A SKYRME CONSULTANCY LTD→ 15040627 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
AJ CONSULTING SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 16081693 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
AMS 1052 LIMITED→ 04089733 · est 2000 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	25y	—	—
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APKM ACCOUNTANCY LTD→ 09759076 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
ARCTURUS STRATEGY LTD→ 17016074 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ARDERN LTD→ 04029286 · est 2000 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	25y	—	—
ARDOUR CONSULTING LIMITED→ 08866335 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
ARETE PROJECT SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 16292714 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ARHAM CONSULTANTS LTD→ 12221215 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
ARK NETWORK SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 15108017 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ARLINGTON LIQUID SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 07732179 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—

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

Incorporated2000-07-10

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC73110 — Advertising agencies

Registered office

4 Chandlers Lane

Aldbourne

Marlborough

Wiltshire

SN8 2TB

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-04-30

Last made up to: 2025-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-07-24

Last: 2026-07-10

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

SHEPHARD, Susan Elizabeth→

secretary · appointed 2000-07-10

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SHEPHARD, Susan Elizabeth→

director · ~68y · appointed 2011-03-31

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FIRST SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-07-10 · resigned 2000-07-10

Resigned

SHEPHARD, Allan Charles→

director · ~65y · appointed 2000-07-10 · resigned 2011-03-31

Resigned

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