A.B.C. SERVICES (THATCHAM) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04889332 · ltd · incorporated 2003-09-05
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Electrical installation
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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 (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 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
50 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-052024-04-05
Average employees100-100

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 (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-10-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-11-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-07-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-11-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2015-09-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2014-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2014-09-25
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2013-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2003-09-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A.B.C. SERVICES (THATCHAM) LIMITED
  17. 2003-09-05
    COGHLAN, Caroline appointed
    secretary
  18. 2003-09-05
    COGHLAN, Paul appointed
    director

Owner dependency

98/100
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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 23 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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 Paul Coghlan
Individual · British · DOB 06/1965 · age 61
75100%
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
Incorporated2003-09-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43210 — Electrical installation

Registered office

The Nook, 41 Elmhurst Road
Thatcham
Berkshire
RG18 3DQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-05
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-19
Last: 2025-09-05

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

COGHLAN, Caroline
secretary · appointed 2003-09-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COGHLAN, Paul
director · ~61y · appointed 2003-09-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (50 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-07-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-11-27