AQUA-BIO UK LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04333068 · ltd · incorporated 2001-12-03
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 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 23190
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 77). 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
66 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£0Dec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-08-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-03-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-05-14
    ➖
    HEATH, Victor Andrew resigned
    director
  9. 2019-05-14
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  10. 2019-05-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2019-05-14
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2019-03-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-04-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2017-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2001-12-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AQUA-BIO UK LIMITED
  17. 2001-12-03
    ➕
    TOFT, Michael John appointed
    secretary
  18. 2001-12-03
    ➕
    TOFT, Michael John appointed
    director
  19. 2001-12-03
    ➕
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 2001-12-03
    ➖
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2001-12-03
    ➕
    HEATH, Victor Andrew appointed
    director
  22. 2001-12-03
    ➕
    AR NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2001-12-03
    ➖
    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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — 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 77 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Michael John Toft
Individual · British · DOB 04/1949 · age 77
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Victor Andrew Heathceased 14/05/2019· 25-50% shares

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

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————34y——
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03858795 · est 1999 · no financials extracted
————26y——
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05915588 · est 2006 · no financials extracted
————19y——
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14787982 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————3y——
ANDRITZ LIMITED→
02937921 · est 1994 · no financials extracted
————31y——
AOD FASHIONS LIMITED→
15742723 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
APEX UK SALES LIMITED→
04911624 · est 2003 · no financials extracted
————22y——
APP INTERNATIONAL EXPORT&IMPORT CO., LTD→
15663256 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
APPLIED LOGO SERVICES LIMITED→
06299469 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
————18y——
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————2y——
ARCADE DEPOT LIMITED→
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————6y——
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
Incorporated2001-12-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC23190 — SIC 23190

Registered office

Unit 15b Longport Enterprise Centre
Scott Lidgett Road Longport
Stoke-On-Trent
Staffordshire
ST6 4NQ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-28
Last: 2026-05-14

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

TOFT, Michael John→
secretary · appointed 2001-12-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TOFT, Michael John→
director · ~77y · appointed 2001-12-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-12-03 · resigned 2001-12-03
Resigned
HEATH, Victor Andrew→
director · ~79y · appointed 2001-12-03 · resigned 2019-05-14
Resigned
AR NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-12-03 · resigned 2001-12-03
Resigned

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

Recent filings (66 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-19
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2019-05-14