CAFFE ESPRESSO BAR LTD
💤Zombieactive
04895417 · ltd · incorporated 2003-09-11
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
£25.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Take-away food shops and mobile food stands
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
PursueStrong 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 (76/100)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
9 officers (2 active, 9 linked, 4 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
86 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £25,474
Cash YoY
+73%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£29k
↑ 73% YoY
Net Worth
£25k
↑ 12% YoY
Current Assets
£36k
↑ 8.4% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-09-30 | 2024-09-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £34.3k | £34.3k |
| Current assets | £36.4k | £33.6k |
| Cash | £29.5k | £17.0k |
| Debtors | £4.5k | £14.3k |
| Net assets | £25.5k | £22.7k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (33 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2025-11-23📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-11-23📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-08-20📄appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP03
- 2025-08-20📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2025-08-19➕HIGDON, Laura Jane appointedsecretary
- 2025-08-19➖HIGDON, Victoria resignedsecretary
- 2025-05-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-23📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-11-23📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2023-11-23📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-11-22📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2023-11-17➕HIGDON, Victoria Jane appointeddirector
- 2023-11-07➖FITZGERALD, Gerald Robert resigneddirector
- 2023-05-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-06-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2008-07-26➖BAXTER, Nicola resignedsecretary
- 2008-07-26➕HIGDON, Victoria appointedsecretary
- 2007-11-30➖FITZGERALD, Gerald Charles resigneddirector
- 2007-09-14➕FITZGERALD, Gerald Charles appointeddirector
- 2006-10-17➕BAXTER, Nicola appointedsecretary
- 2006-10-17➖FITZGERALD, Gerald Charles resignedsecretary
- 2004-10-10➕FITZGERALD, Gerald Charles appointedsecretary
- 2004-10-10➖FITZGERALD, Gerald resignedsecretary
- 2004-10-10➕FITZGERALD, Gerald Robert appointeddirector
- 2004-10-10➖RADFORD, Jonathan resigneddirector
- 2003-09-11🏢Company incorporatedAs CAFFE ESPRESSO BAR LTD
- 2003-09-11➕FITZGERALD, Gerald appointedsecretary
- 2003-09-11➕RADFORD, Jonathan appointeddirector
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial 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
45/100
Moderate signalSome succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
Red flags
cleanNo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Miss Victoria Jane Higdon Individual · British · DOB 06/1973 · age 53 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 07/11/2023 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Gerald Robert Fitzgeraldceased 07/11/2023· 75-100% shares
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Hospitality · SP postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAY VIEW CAFE LIMITED→ 06875526 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| BEAR WITH US EVENTS LTD→ 16246211 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BERK WILTON LTD→ 11198810 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| BOBS ICES LIMITED→ 14189667 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BROMLEY ITALIAN FOOD LTD→ 14531511 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BUBBLE AND SQUEAK FOOD LIMITED→ 09058157 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| BULFORD ROAD FOOD LIMITED→ 17109613 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CALVER PARTIES LTD→ 14796816 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| CELLAR DOOR INNS LTD→ 13033483 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| CEYLON TASTE PRIVATE LIMITED→ 15815521 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CHANGE AGENT SUN LIMITED→ 03949595 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 26y | — | — |
| CHANS 88 LIMITED→ 14431527 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2003-09-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56103 — Take-away food shops and mobile food stands
Registered office
1 Waterloo Terrace
Anna Valley
Andover
Hampshire
SP11 7LY
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-07
Last: 2025-11-23
Officers (2 active · 7 resigned)
HIGDON, Laura Jane→
Activesecretary · appointed 2025-08-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HIGDON, Victoria Jane→
Activedirector · ~53y · appointed 2023-11-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BAXTER, Nicola→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2006-10-17 · resigned 2008-07-26
FITZGERALD, Gerald Charles→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2004-10-10 · resigned 2006-10-17
FITZGERALD, Gerald→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2003-09-11 · resigned 2004-10-10
HIGDON, Victoria→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2008-07-26 · resigned 2025-08-19
FITZGERALD, Gerald Charles→
Resigneddirector · ~85y · appointed 2007-09-14 · resigned 2007-11-30
FITZGERALD, Gerald Robert→
Resigneddirector · ~56y · appointed 2004-10-10 · resigned 2023-11-07
RADFORD, Jonathan→
Resigneddirector · ~47y · appointed 2003-09-11 · resigned 2004-10-10
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (86 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-11-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-11-23
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2025-08-20
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-08-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-23
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-11-23
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-11-23
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-11-23
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-12