ASCF LTD

💤Zombieactive
04600976 · ltd · incorporated 2002-11-26
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 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Hairdressing and other beauty treatment
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 21.6y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 21.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
63 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
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
100
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 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees14001200

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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 (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-10-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-08-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-09-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-05-29
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2018-05-29
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2018-05-29
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  12. 2018-05-29
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  13. 2018-04-30
    ➖
    LEWIS, Sophie resigned
    secretary
  14. 2018-04-30
    ➖
    LEWIS, Sophie resigned
    director
  15. 2017-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-02-10
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  18. 2016-02-10
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  19. 2004-11-23
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  20. 2003-12-01
    ➕
    LEWIS, Sophie appointed
    director
  21. 2002-11-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASCF LTD
  22. 2002-11-26
    ➕
    LEWIS, Julian John appointed
    director
  23. 2002-11-26
    ➕
    LEWIS, Sophie appointed
    secretary
  24. 2002-11-26
    ➕
    CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2002-11-26
    ➖
    CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

Owner dependency

85/100
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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong 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 24 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
Mr Julian John Lewis
Individual · British · DOB 11/1970 · age 56
75–100%
—75-100% shares15/11/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Sophie Lewisceased 30/04/2018· 25-50% shares

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

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
Incorporated2002-11-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC96020 — Hairdressing and other beauty treatment

Registered office

The Old Emporium
Bow Street
Langport
Somerset
TA10 9PQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-10
Last: 2025-11-26

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

LEWIS, Julian John→
director · ~56y · appointed 2002-11-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LEWIS, Sophie→
secretary · appointed 2002-11-26 · resigned 2018-04-30
Resigned
CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-11-26 · resigned 2002-11-26
Resigned
LEWIS, Sophie→
director · ~56y · appointed 2003-12-01 · resigned 2018-04-30
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Debenture1 property23/11/200410/02/2016

Recent filings (63 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-11-30