ABBEYGATE DESIGN LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04871476 · ltd · incorporated 2003-08-19
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
—
year to Feb 2026
Net worth
£13
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Engineering related scientific and technical consulting activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (70/100)

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 (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
71 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £13

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£6k
Net Worth
£13
Current Assets
£6k
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2026-02-28
Total assets£13
Current assets£6.3k
Cash£6.3k
Net assets£13

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
3
filings
  • • 1 gazette
  • • 1 dissolution
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
4
filings
  • • 2 accounts
  • • 1 gazette
  • • 1 dissolution
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-14
    📄
    gazette-notice-voluntary
    gazette · GAZ1(A)
  2. 2026-04-07
    📄
    dissolution-application-strike-off-company
    dissolution · DS01
  3. 2026-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2026-02-25
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  5. 2025-07-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2025-06-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-06-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2023-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-10-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-09-08
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  12. 2021-09-07
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2021-09-07
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2021-09-07
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2021-09-07
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2020-10-21
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  17. 2020-07-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  18. 2020-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  19. 2019-07-23
    ➕
    SHELLEY, Debbie Marie appointed
    director
  20. 2004-08-25
    ➕
    SHELLEY, Debbie appointed
    secretary
  21. 2003-10-17
    ➖
    SWINSON, Pornsri resigned
    secretary
  22. 2003-08-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABBEYGATE DESIGN LIMITED
  23. 2003-08-19
    ➕
    SHELLEY, Anthony Charles appointed
    director
  24. 2003-08-19
    ➕
    SWINSON, Pornsri appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

91/100
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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
  • +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 65. 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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 Anthony Shelley
Individual · British · DOB 04/1965 · age 61
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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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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
Incorporated2003-08-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71122 — Engineering related scientific and technical consulting activities

Registered office

15 Towcester Road Old Stratford
Milton Keynes
MK19 6AN
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-11-30
Last made up to: 2026-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-04
Last: 2025-10-21

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

SHELLEY, Debbie→
secretary · appointed 2004-08-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHELLEY, Anthony Charles→
director · ~61y · appointed 2003-08-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHELLEY, Debbie Marie→
director · ~65y · appointed 2019-07-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWINSON, Pornsri→
secretary · appointed 2003-08-19 · resigned 2003-10-17
Resigned

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

Recent filings (71 total)

gazette-notice-voluntary
gazette · GAZ1(A)
2026-04-14
dissolution-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS01
2026-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-29
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2026-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-07-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-06-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-08-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-10-04