BARTON FOX LTD
💤Zombieactive
04487424 · ltd · incorporated 2002-07-16
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
£-26.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 74/100 (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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (69/100)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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
69 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
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 declaredNegative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £26,122
Key financials
1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£26k
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-10-31 |
|---|---|
| Total assets | £-26.1k |
| Debtors | £4.9k |
| Net assets | £-26.1k |
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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-10-31📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2024-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-27✏️certificate-change-of-name-companychange-of-name · CERTNM
- 2023-07-27✏️change-of-name-noticechange-of-name · CONNOT
- 2023-02-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-02-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-08-03📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2019-12-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-11-06📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-10-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-30📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2017-11-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-03-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-05-26➖FOX, Leonard resignedsecretary
- 2013-07-01➕FOX, Craig Paul appointeddirector
- 2013-07-01➖FOX, Leonard resigneddirector
- 2011-09-01➖FOX, Craig Paul resigneddirector
- 2002-07-16🏢Company incorporatedAs BARTON FOX LTD
- 2002-07-16➕FOX, Leonard appointedsecretary
- 2002-07-16➕FOX, Craig Paul appointeddirector
- 2002-07-16➕FOX, Leonard appointeddirector
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
68/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Craig Paul Fox Individual · British · DOB 01/1976 · age 50 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/07/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Leonard Keith Barton Foxceased 01/04/2020· 25-50% shares
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A&S FABRICATION SERVICES LIMITED→ 10838212 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AI REHAB LTD→ 11896710 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ALLPLAY KINETICS LTD→ 14472174 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| APEX ACCESS-ELECTRICAL SOLUTIONS LTD→ 10307899 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| APEX MOBILE LOCKSMITHS LTD→ 10781310 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ARTISTS R US LTD→ 16844769 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AVC SYSTEMS LTD→ 12220012 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| B2 HELI-SERVICES LTD→ 13412711 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| BABABOO FURNITURE LTD→ 11558993 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| BAXTER AGGREGATES LIMITED→ 13343800 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| BEADS BY GEEBS LTD→ 15292994 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2002-07-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Registered office
136a St. Albans Road
Lytham St. Annes
FY8 1UZ
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-30
Last: 2025-07-16
Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)
FOX, Craig Paul→
Activedirector · ~50y · appointed 2013-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
FOX, Leonard→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2002-07-16 · resigned 2015-05-26
FOX, Craig Paul→
Resigneddirector · ~50y · appointed 2002-07-16 · resigned 2011-09-01
FOX, Leonard→
Resigneddirector · ~78y · appointed 2002-07-16 · resigned 2013-07-01
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (69 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-06
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2023-07-27
change-of-name-notice
change-of-name · CONNOT
2023-07-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-03