AQUA BLUE DESIGN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04979137 · ltd · incorporated 2003-11-28

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 Nov 2025

Net worth

£198

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 18129

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 20.4y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 20.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

51 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £198

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£198

↑ 74% YoY

Current Assets

£69k

~ YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-11-30	2024-11-30
Total assets	£198	£1.6k
Current assets	£68.5k	£68.8k
Net assets	£198	£114

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand

2026-07-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-08-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-04-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-08-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-12-10
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-06-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-02-12
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2015-02-12
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2014-12-24
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2006-02-14
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
2003-11-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As AQUA BLUE DESIGN LIMITED
2003-11-28
➕
BAILEY, Rebecca Jane appointed
secretary
2003-11-28
➕
BAILEY, Timothy Mark 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 58 — 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 58. 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Timothy Mark Bailey Individual · British · DOB 03/1968 · age 58	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016
Mrs Rebecca Bailey Individual · British · DOB 08/1967 · age 59	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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

Incorporated2003-11-28

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC18129 — SIC 18129

Registered office

5 Sharnbrook

Shoeburyness

Essex

SS3 8YE

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-08-31

Last made up to: 2025-11-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-12

Last: 2025-11-28

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

BAILEY, Rebecca Jane→

secretary · appointed 2003-11-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BAILEY, Timothy Mark→

director · ~58y · appointed 2003-11-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited	All assets debenture	1 property	14/02/2006	12/02/2015