ABELARD MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05208092 · ltd · incorporated 2004-08-17
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 2024
Net worth
£-3.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). 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 (78/100)

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
54 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £3,498

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£3k
↑ 18% YoY
Current Assets
£17k
↓ 13% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£4k£565£5k£10k£15k£20kAug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Total assets£-3.4k£-4.2k
Current assets£17.2k£19.8k
Net assets£-3.5k£-4.3k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-01
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  2. 2025-05-30
    ➖
    LAWRENCE, Rocsarne Beverley resigned
    secretary
  3. 2025-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-08-17
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2022-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-05-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-06-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-09-27
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-08-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2011-08-31
    ➖
    WARDLE, Susan Jacqueline resigned
    director
  18. 2010-12-01
    ➕
    WARDLE, Susan Jacqueline appointed
    director
  19. 2004-08-18
    ➕
    BUIST, William Mitchell appointed
    director
  20. 2004-08-18
    ➕
    LAWRENCE, Rocsarne Beverley appointed
    secretary
  21. 2004-08-18
    ➖
    DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2004-08-18
    ➖
    DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2004-08-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABELARD MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED
  24. 2004-08-17
    ➕
    DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2004-08-17
    ➕
    DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. 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 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

clean
No 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr William M Buist
Individual · British · DOB 08/1958 · age 68
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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08362135 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
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07227877 · est 2010 · no financials extracted
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15398251 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
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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
Incorporated2004-08-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

Appletree, Coombe Road
Compton
Newbury
RG20 6RQ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last: 2025-08-17

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

BUIST, William Mitchell→
director · ~68y · appointed 2004-08-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LAWRENCE, Rocsarne Beverley→
secretary · appointed 2004-08-18 · resigned 2025-05-30
Resigned
DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-08-17 · resigned 2004-08-18
Resigned
WARDLE, Susan Jacqueline→
director · ~56y · appointed 2010-12-01 · resigned 2011-08-31
Resigned
DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-08-17 · resigned 2004-08-18
Resigned

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

Recent filings (54 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-26
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-17
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-05-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-19