DEVON DIRECT INSURANCE SERVICES LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
05037934 · ltd · incorporated 2004-02-09
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
£181.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Life insurance
Sector: Financial & insurance
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 65120Non-life insurance
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. 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: strategic trade sale (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 4.0y
35/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Charge age ~4.0 years — mid-life; refi window approaching.
- · 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
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
69 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £181,156
Cash YoY
+7%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£210k
↑ 7.0% YoY
Net Worth
£181k
↑ 9.8% YoY
Current Assets
£212k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-04-30 | 2024-04-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £299.7k | £292.4k |
| Current assets | £212.0k | £213.3k |
| Cash | £210.0k | £196.1k |
| Debtors | £2.0k | £17.2k |
| Net assets | £181.2k | £165.1k |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
- 2025-10-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-09📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-09-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-08📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2022-08-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-27📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2022-06-24🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2021-11-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-18📄appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP03
- 2021-08-18📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2021-08-18📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2021-06-28➕COWARD, Hannah Rachel appointedsecretary
- 2021-06-28➖COWARD, Barry Edward resignedsecretary
- 2021-06-28➖COWARD, Barry Edward resigneddirector
- 2021-01-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-11-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-10-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2004-02-16➕COWARD, Hannah Rachel appointeddirector
- 2004-02-16➕COWARD, Barry Edward appointedsecretary
- 2004-02-16➖@UKPLC CLIENT SECRETARY LTD resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2004-02-16➕COWARD, Barry Edward appointeddirector
- 2004-02-16➖@UKPLC CLIENT DIRECTOR LTD resignedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2004-02-09🏢Company incorporatedAs DEVON DIRECT INSURANCE SERVICES LIMITED
- 2004-02-09➕@UKPLC CLIENT SECRETARY LTD appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2004-02-09➕@UKPLC CLIENT DIRECTOR LTD appointedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
85/100
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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
75/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Miss Hannah Rachel Coward Individual · British · DOB 09/1975 · age 51 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Barry Edward Cowardceased 28/06/2021· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Financial services · TQ postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOWBEER LIMITED→ 07831118 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| DCD SOLUTIONS LTD→ 16017244 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| DUKE CAPITAL LIMITED→ 12889402 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ENABLE INSURANCE SERVICES LIMITED→ 09372700 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| EPIEIKES LTD→ 16426559 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FINANCE 4 EVERYTHING LIMITED→ 16491744 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FITCH FINANCIAL ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ 08655808 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| FOOTHOLD FINANCE LTD→ 12567516 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| FORDER ESTATES LIMITED→ 13100815 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| FOUR STAGES FINANCE LIMITED→ 07306487 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| FRANCIS CLARK FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED→ 05413603 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| FRANCIS CLARK TRUST CORPORATION LIMITED→ 12271090 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2004-02-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC65110 — Life insurance
Registered office
30 Southdown Avenue
Brixham
Devon
TQ5 0AN
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-23
Last: 2026-02-09
Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)
COWARD, Hannah Rachel→
Activesecretary · appointed 2021-06-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
COWARD, Hannah Rachel→
Activedirector · ~51y · appointed 2004-02-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
COWARD, Barry Edward→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2004-02-16 · resigned 2021-06-28
@UKPLC CLIENT SECRETARY LTD→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-02-09 · resigned 2004-02-16
COWARD, Barry Edward→
Resigneddirector · ~74y · appointed 2004-02-16 · resigned 2021-06-28
@UKPLC CLIENT DIRECTOR LTD→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-02-09 · resigned 2004-02-16
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 24/06/2022 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (69 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-10-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-09-11
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-09-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-09-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-14
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-02-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-08-12
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2022-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-11-22
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2021-08-18
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-08-18