AZRA CATERING LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04341499 · ltd · incorporated 2001-12-17
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Event catering activities
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company 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 (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
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
81 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.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-24 | 2024-03-24 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 1800 | 1900 |
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
5
filings
- • 4 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 officers
Last 180 days
5
filings
- • 4 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
- 2026-06-19📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2026-06-19📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2026-06-18📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2026-06-18📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2026-06-17📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-09📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-12-31📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-21📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-03-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-03-19📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2018-12-21📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2004-06-01➕PIERSON, Diane Karen appointedsecretary
- 2004-06-01➖CROCKFORD, Lara Jane resignedsecretary
- 2001-12-17🏢Company incorporatedAs AZRA CATERING LIMITED
- 2001-12-17➕PIERSON, Mark David appointeddirector
- 2001-12-17➕CROCKFORD, Lara Jane appointedsecretary
- 2001-12-17➕GRAEME, Dorothy May appointednominee-secretary
- 2001-12-17➖GRAEME, Dorothy May resignednominee-secretary
- 2001-12-17➕GRAEME, Lesley Joyce appointednominee-director
- 2001-12-17➖GRAEME, Lesley Joyce resignednominee-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 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
cleanNo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Mark David Pierson Individual · British · DOB 03/1970 · age 56 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Diane Karen Pierson Individual · British · DOB 07/1972 · age 54 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
- Mrs Diane Karen Piersonceased 18/06/2026· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
- Mr Mark David Piersonceased 18/06/2026· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Hospitality · ME postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARMANI GRILL LTD→ 15893568 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ASAP BUSINESS LTD→ 13362326 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ATLANTIS KENT 2 LTD→ 16365781 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ATO CATERING LTD→ 10671744 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| AYLESFORD COMMUNITY TRUST CIC→ 12316973 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| AYOKAH FOODS AND SERVICES UK LTD→ 15498496 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AZ BROTHERS LTD→ 15232416 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| B&B CHARCOALGRILL LTD→ 16542089 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BABOS KEBAB AND FISH LTD→ 15268763 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BACK TO NATURE EVENTS LIMITED→ 13922610 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| BAJS LIMITED→ 04558579 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| BAKED BY ALLINA LTD→ 16894095 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2001-12-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56210 — Event catering activities
Registered office
61 London Road
Maidstone
Kent
ME16 8TX
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-24
Last made up to: 2025-03-24
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-13
Last: 2025-10-30
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
PIERSON, Diane Karen→
Activesecretary · appointed 2004-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
PIERSON, Mark David→
Activedirector · ~56y · appointed 2001-12-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CROCKFORD, Lara Jane→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2001-12-17 · resigned 2004-06-01
GRAEME, Dorothy May→
Resignednominee-secretary · appointed 2001-12-17 · resigned 2001-12-17
GRAEME, Lesley Joyce→
Resignednominee-director · ~73y · appointed 2001-12-17 · resigned 2001-12-17
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (81 total)
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-06-19
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-06-19
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-06-18
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-06-18
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-01
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-02-09
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-12-31