AB CEILINGS (GRIMSBY) LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04115703 · ltd · incorporated 2000-11-28
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
£318.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Roofing activities
Sector: Construction
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle 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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
65 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.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £318,728
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£175k
Net Worth
£319k
↑ 90% YoY
Current Assets
£366k
↑ 112% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £324.9k | £187.8k |
| Current assets | £365.8k | £172.6k |
| Cash | £174.8k | — |
| Debtors | £191.0k | — |
| Net assets | £318.7k | £167.4k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
- 2026-01-16📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-30📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-10-30📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-05-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-24📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-08-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2000-12-31➕BUTLER, Jayne appointedsecretary
- 2000-12-31➕BUTLER, Andrew Charles appointeddirector
- 2000-12-31➖TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2000-12-31➖COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2000-11-28🏢Company incorporatedAs AB CEILINGS (GRIMSBY) LIMITED
- 2000-11-28➕TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2000-11-28➕COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
85/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
75/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong 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 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- 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
cleanNo 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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Andrew Charles Butler Individual · British · DOB 01/1971 · age 55 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 01/07/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Construction · DN postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A & F BUILDING & ROOFING SERVICES LIMITED→ 06136026 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| A F BECKETT LIMITED→ 04432962 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| A.C.S. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS LIMITED→ 04130056 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| ABE (EUROPE) LIMITED→ 12208489 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ABEY AIR CONDITIONING LIMITED→ 06681133 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| AC & RV PROJECTS LTD→ 09624623 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| ACCESS & COE LTD→ 14420891 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ACCESS QUALITY SCAFFOLDING SERVICES LIMITED→ 07832081 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| ACORN DESIGNER DRIVEWAYS LIMITED→ 13444912 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ACR91 LTD→ 14921832 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ACTUAL AI LTD→ 16256787 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ADAL PLUMBING & HEATING LIMITED→ 14134019 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2000-11-28
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43910 — Roofing activities
Registered office
107 Cleethorpe Road
Grimsby
North East Lincolnshire
DN31 3ER
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-12
Last: 2025-11-28
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
Active
BUTLER, Andrew Charles→
Activedirector · ~55y · appointed 2000-12-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-11-28 · resigned 2000-12-31
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-11-28 · resigned 2000-12-31
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (65 total)
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-01-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-10-30
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-05-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-01