CROOKELL-SLADE LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04936402 · ltd · incorporated 2003-10-17
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: General secondary education
Sector: Education
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 86900Other human health activities
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 59). 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 (76/100)Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.
Company profile
address, 2 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
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
49 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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-08-31 | 2024-08-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | — | £-23.5k |
| Current assets | — | £1.8k |
| Cash | — | £976 |
| Debtors | — | £850 |
| Net assets | — | £-23.5k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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 (20 events)Click to expand
- 2025-10-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-10-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-11-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-10-22📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-10-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2014-10-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-10-17📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2013-10-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2003-10-30➕SLADE, Jonathan Thomas Charles appointedsecretary
- 2003-10-30➖TURNER, Beverley Elizabeth resignedsecretary
- 2003-10-17🏢Company incorporatedAs CROOKELL-SLADE LIMITED
- 2003-10-17➕CROOKELL-SLADE, Helen Louise appointeddirector
- 2003-10-17➕TURNER, Beverley Elizabeth appointedsecretary
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "CROOKELL-SLADE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
85/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Helen Louise Crookell-Slade Individual · British · DOB 01/1967 · age 59 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 17/10/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Education & training · AL postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRAMALL ENTERPRISES LIMITED→ 09747877 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| BRILLIANCE LAW ACADEMY UK LTD→ 16319623 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BRONWELL LIMITED→ 02686801 · est 1992 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 34y | — | — |
| CHERRY CHILDCARE LIMITED→ 08696962 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| CLEAR PRONUNCIATION LTD→ 10322448 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| COACHEDBYCURT LTD→ 16204056 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| COMPASS 365 LTD→ 16418855 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CORE SELF COACHING LIMITED→ 14568741 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| CRE8TIVE RESOURCES CIC→ 12562339 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| CRESWICK PRE-SCHOOL LIMITED→ 07080206 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| CRTSIDE LIMITED→ 16487938 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CURVE OF LEARNING LIMITED→ 16782120 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2003-10-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC85310 — General secondary education
Registered office
6 Woodlands
Harpenden
Hertfordshire
AL5 3BY
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last: 2025-10-17
Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)
SLADE, Jonathan Thomas Charles→
Activesecretary · appointed 2003-10-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CROOKELL-SLADE, Helen Louise→
Activedirector · ~59y · appointed 2003-10-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
TURNER, Beverley Elizabeth→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2003-10-17 · resigned 2003-10-30
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (49 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-10-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-09-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-09-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-09-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-11-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-10-19