CARDNO LTD
💤Zombieactive
04956124 · ltd · incorporated 2003-11-06
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
£18.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 46420Wholesale of clothing and footwear
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -52% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 22.1y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 22.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 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
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £18,597
Cash draining
Cash down 52% YoY
Cash YoY
-52%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£7k
↓ 52% YoY
Net Worth
£19k
↑ 38% YoY
Current Assets
£59k
↓ 3.4% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-06-30 | 2024-06-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £26.8k | £24.6k |
| Current assets | £59.4k | £61.5k |
| Cash | £7.4k | £15.4k |
| Debtors | £21.7k | £16.7k |
| Net assets | £18.6k | £13.5k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
- 2026-03-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-29📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-09-29📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-09-26📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-09-26📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-03-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-01📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2021-11-01🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2021-04-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-02-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-07-02➖REGLAR, Hilary resignedsecretary
- 2015-07-02➖REGLAR, Hilary resigneddirector
- 2004-06-16🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
- 2003-11-07➕ELMS, Glenn Alan appointeddirector
- 2003-11-07➕REGLAR, Hilary appointedsecretary
- 2003-11-07➖SJD (SECRETARIES) LIMITED resignedcorporate-secretary
- 2003-11-07➕REGLAR, Hilary appointeddirector
- 2003-11-07➖SJD (DIRECTORS) LIMITED resignedcorporate-director
- 2003-11-06🏢Company incorporatedAs CARDNO LTD
- 2003-11-06➕SJD (SECRETARIES) LIMITED appointedcorporate-secretary
- 2003-11-06➕SJD (DIRECTORS) LIMITED appointedcorporate-director
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.
- +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.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong 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.
- 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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Glenn Alan Elms Individual · British · DOB 09/1961 · age 65 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
Ms Hilary Reglar Individual · British · DOB 11/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Manufacturing · LU postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVENTADOR HOLDINGS LTD→ 14088584 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BALL ELECTRONICS LIMITED→ 12261557 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| BLOCKS DIRECT LTD→ 16515561 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| C.P. METALWORK SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 08043069 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| C2 SIGNS & PRINT LTD→ 15852828 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CARBON DREAM LTD→ 16975174 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CAREWJONES.CO.UK LTD→ 07848755 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| CARRARA-SERVICES LTD→ 08691011 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| CATLEY TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED→ 10872217 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| CFC MECHANICAL LIMITED→ 15830796 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CGPA LIFT INSTALLATIONS LTD→ 12011462 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| CHESTNUT CANDLES LTD→ 13217836 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
8 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
Incorporated2003-11-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Registered office
36 Station Rd
Stanbridge
Bedfordshire
LU7 9JF
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-07-17
Last: 2026-07-03
Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)
ELMS, Glenn Alan→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2003-11-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
REGLAR, Hilary→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2003-11-07 · resigned 2015-07-02
SJD (SECRETARIES) LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-secretary · appointed 2003-11-06 · resigned 2003-11-07
REGLAR, Hilary→
Resigneddirector · ~64y · appointed 2003-11-07 · resigned 2015-07-02
SJD (DIRECTORS) LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-director · appointed 2003-11-06 · resigned 2003-11-07
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
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland | Debenture | 1 property | 16/06/2004 | 01/11/2021 |
Recent filings (63 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-07-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-25
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-09-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-09-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-09-26
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-02
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2021-11-01