BRANIFF & DAVIDSON OPTICIANS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04299436 · ltd · incorporated 2001-10-04
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 Oct 2025
Net worth
£107.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other human health activities
Sector: Human health & social work
Investor take
Pursue
Strong 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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

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
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
62 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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £107,270

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£107k
Current Assets
£137k
Current Liabilities
—
£0£27k£55k£82k£110k£137kOct 2024Oct 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-10-312024-10-31
Total assets£110.8k—
Current assets£137.3k—
Net assets£107.3k—
Average employees—800

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 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-03-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2025-03-01
    ➖
    DAVIDSON, Howard Murray resigned
    director
  5. 2024-01-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-04-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-10-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2019-10-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-02-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-04-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-05-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-10-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2001-10-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BRANIFF & DAVIDSON OPTICIANS LIMITED
  18. 2001-10-04
    ➕
    BRANIFF, Joanne appointed
    secretary
  19. 2001-10-04
    ➕
    BRANIFF, Joanne appointed
    director
  20. 2001-10-04
    ➕
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2001-10-04
    ➖
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2001-10-04
    ➕
    DAVIDSON, Howard Murray appointed
    director
  23. 2001-10-04
    ➕
    AR NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2001-10-04
    ➖
    AR NOMINEES 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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BRANIFF" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +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 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 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Howard Murray Davidson
Individual · British · DOB 04/1957 · age 69
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting04/10/2016
Mrs Joanne Braniff
Individual · British · DOB 01/1973 · age 53
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting04/10/2016

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

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
Incorporated2001-10-04
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC86900 — Other human health activities

Registered office

1-3 New Oxford Street
Workington
Cumbria
CA14 2NA
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-18
Last: 2025-10-04

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

BRANIFF, Joanne→
secretary · appointed 2001-10-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRANIFF, Joanne→
director · ~53y · appointed 2001-10-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-10-04 · resigned 2001-10-04
Resigned
DAVIDSON, Howard Murray→
director · ~69y · appointed 2001-10-04 · resigned 2025-03-01
Resigned
AR NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-10-04 · resigned 2001-10-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (62 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-04
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-03-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-13
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-10-09