ABC CHILD'S PLAY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04596546 · ltd · incorporated 2002-11-21
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 85100Pre-primary education
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: low (54/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile
address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)
84
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 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
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.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-11-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-28
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2020-10-28
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  10. 2020-10-13
    ➖
    BROWN, Paulyn resigned
    director
  11. 2020-10-13
    ➖
    BURKE, Shirley resigned
    director
  12. 2019-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-08-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-08-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-01-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2005-08-31
    ➕
    CRAWFORD, Barry appointed
    director
  18. 2005-08-31
    ➕
    CRAWFORD, Donna appointed
    director
  19. 2002-11-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABC CHILD'S PLAY LIMITED
  20. 2002-11-21
    ➕
    CRAWFORD, Donna appointed
    secretary
  21. 2002-11-21
    ➕
    BEST, Geore appointed
    secretary
  22. 2002-11-21
    ➖
    BEST, Geore resigned
    secretary
  23. 2002-11-21
    ➕
    ANANDARAJAH, Velummylum, Mr. appointed
    director
  24. 2002-11-21
    ➖
    ANANDARAJAH, Velummylum, Mr. resigned
    director
  25. 2002-11-21
    ➕
    BROWN, Paulyn appointed
    director
  26. 2002-11-21
    ➕
    BURKE, Shirley appointed
    director

Owner dependency

84/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Donna Crawford
Individual · British · DOB 07/1966 · age 60
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · firm interest10/05/2016

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

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2002-11-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

81 Styles Gardens
Loughborough Road
London
SW9 7XD

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-08-31
Last made up to: 2025-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-11
Last: 2025-11-27

Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)

CRAWFORD, Donna→
secretary · appointed 2002-11-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CRAWFORD, Barry→
director · ~63y · appointed 2005-08-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CRAWFORD, Donna→
director · ~60y · appointed 2005-08-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BEST, Geore→
secretary · appointed 2002-11-21 · resigned 2002-11-21
Resigned
ANANDARAJAH, Velummylum, Mr.→
director · ~71y · appointed 2002-11-21 · resigned 2002-11-21
Resigned
BROWN, Paulyn→
director · ~72y · appointed 2002-11-21 · resigned 2020-10-13
Resigned
BURKE, Shirley→
director · ~63y · appointed 2002-11-21 · resigned 2020-10-13
Resigned

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

Recent filings (69 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-04-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-01-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-11-06
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-10-28