ARIADNE DESIGNS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04218771 · ltd · incorporated 2001-05-17

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

£19.0k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other information technology service activities

Sector: Information & communication

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 74). 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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

4 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

61 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £19,044

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£19k

↑ 8.9% YoY

Current Assets

£92

↓ 71% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£19.0k	£17.5k
Current assets	£92	£315
Net assets	£19.0k	£17.5k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2025-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-12-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-05-27
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-01-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2015-06-15
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-01-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2014-06-11
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2001-05-17
🏢
Company incorporated
As ARIADNE DESIGNS LIMITED
2001-05-17
➕
HOWSON, Swee Lean appointed
secretary
2001-05-17
➕
HOWSON, John appointed
director
2001-05-17
➕
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-05-17
➖
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-05-17
➕
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2001-05-17
➖
COMPANY DIRECTORS 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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — 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 74 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 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John Howson Individual · British · DOB 01/1952 · age 74	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	01/05/2017

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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ARF SYSTEMS LTD→ 07448495 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
ARKLE ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS LIMITED→ 06745343 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	17y	—	—
AROMACHAT PRODUCTIONS LTD→ 08856356 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
ARQMIND LTD→ 11859323 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
ARTAGNAN TECH LIMITED→ 08919576 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2001-05-17

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC62090 — Other information technology service activities

Registered office

25 Desborough Close

Bengeo,Hertford

Hertfordshire

SG14 3EG

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last: 2026-05-17

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

HOWSON, Swee Lean→

secretary · appointed 2001-05-17

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HOWSON, John→

director · ~74y · appointed 2001-05-17

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-05-17 · resigned 2001-05-17

Resigned

COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-05-17 · resigned 2001-05-17

Resigned

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