BARCLAY GIFFORD ASSOCIATES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04573770 · ltd · incorporated 2002-10-25

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 2024

Net worth

£6

book net assets

Opportunity

74/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 99999

Sector: Extraterritorial bodies

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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

8 officers (1 active, 8 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

2 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

59 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

74/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

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 £6

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£6

~ YoY

Current Assets

£6

~ YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-10-31	2023-10-31
Total assets	£6	£6
Current assets	£6	£6
Net assets	£6	£6

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

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (31 events)Click to expand

2025-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-06-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-05-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-07-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-11-09
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-07-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-10-31
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-05-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2013-11-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-11-23
➖
BARCLAY, Celia Ann resigned
secretary
2012-11-23
➖
BARCLAY, Malcolm resigned
director
2011-08-01
➕
VAN DER SCHYFF, Ismael appointed
director
2010-10-26
➖
VAN DER SCHYFF, Ismael resigned
director
2009-10-30
➕
VAN DER SCHYFF, Ismael appointed
director
2004-03-25
➕
BARCLAY, Celia Ann appointed
secretary
2004-03-25
➖
BARCLAY, Malcolm resigned
secretary
2004-03-25
➖
JONES, Roger Frank resigned
director
2002-10-30
➕
BARCLAY, Malcolm appointed
secretary
2002-10-30
➖
GREENWOOD, Pauline Diane resigned
secretary
2002-10-30
➕
BARCLAY, Malcolm appointed
director
2002-10-30
➖
BIRD, Sandra Anne resigned
director
2002-10-30
➕
JONES, Roger Frank appointed
director
2002-10-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As BARCLAY GIFFORD ASSOCIATES LIMITED
2002-10-25
➕
GREENWOOD, Pauline Diane appointed
secretary
2002-10-25
➕
BIRD, Sandra Anne appointed
director

Owner dependency

75/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material 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 signal

Multiple 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 15 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

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 Ismael Van Der Schyff Individual · British · DOB 06/1975 · age 51	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · trust interest · firm interest	25/10/2016

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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ACTION VIDEO SERVICES LTD→ 03301932 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	29y	—	—
ANGLOPLAS LIMITED→ 01723780 · est 1983 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	42y	—	—
ATELIER TEXTURE LTD→ 14566695 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
AUDRIUS GUDAS LTD→ 17001842 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AVID FIRE & SAFETY LTD→ 15121739 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
BABOOCO LIMITED→ 03404842 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	28y	—	—
BENJAMINSFEAST.COM LIMITED→ 16642937 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
BEYOND LIMITS DRONES UK LTD→ 16084612 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
BEYOND LIMITS SURVEY UK LTD→ 16084644 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
BLACKWATER FIRE SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 16450533 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
BLOSSOM WITHIN & BEYOND PSYCHOLOGICAL & THERAPEUTIC SERVICES LIMITED→ 16226875 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
BLRI PROPERTIES LTD→ 13862335 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—

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

Incorporated2002-10-25

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999

Registered office

The Old Forge

East Street

Colchester

Essex

CO1 2TP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-05

Last: 2025-10-22

Officers (1 active · 7 resigned)

VAN DER SCHYFF, Ismael→

director · ~51y · appointed 2011-08-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BARCLAY, Celia Ann→

secretary · appointed 2004-03-25 · resigned 2012-11-23

Resigned

BARCLAY, Malcolm→

secretary · appointed 2002-10-30 · resigned 2004-03-25

Resigned

GREENWOOD, Pauline Diane→

secretary · appointed 2002-10-25 · resigned 2002-10-30

Resigned

BARCLAY, Malcolm→

director · ~79y · appointed 2002-10-30 · resigned 2012-11-23

Resigned

BIRD, Sandra Anne→

director · ~62y · appointed 2002-10-25 · resigned 2002-10-30

Resigned

JONES, Roger Frank→

director · ~82y · appointed 2002-10-30 · resigned 2004-03-25

Resigned

VAN DER SCHYFF, Ismael→

director · ~51y · appointed 2009-10-30 · resigned 2010-10-26

Resigned

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