A BETTER DRAIN FLOW LTD

💤Zombieactive

05263064 · ltd · incorporated 2004-10-18

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 Oct 2024

Net worth

£12.9k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation

Sector: Construction

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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 (75/100)

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

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

53 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £12,912

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£13k

↑ 2.9% YoY

Current Assets

£15k

↓ 12% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-10-31	2023-10-31
Total assets	£2.5k	£4.3k
Current assets	£15.0k	£17.1k
Net assets	£12.9k	£12.6k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 address

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 address

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2026-03-10
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-07-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-08-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-07
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-08-07
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-08-07
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2019-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-07-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-07-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-07-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-10-22
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2004-10-27
➕
CATT, Beverley Ann appointed
secretary
2004-10-27
➕
CATT, Donald appointed
director
2004-10-20
➖
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-10-20
➖
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2004-10-18
🏢
Company incorporated
As A BETTER DRAIN FLOW LTD
2004-10-18
➕
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-10-18
➕
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD 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 65 — 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 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 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Donald Catt Individual · British · DOB 12/1961 · age 65	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.

Similar companies

Active · Construction · RG postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
100 GLOBAL VENTURES LTD→ 14556813 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
1ST STOP BUILDING SERVICES LTD→ 11371730 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
2M PROPERTY SERVICES LIMITED→ 05895292 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	—	—
534 BUILD LTD→ 15517462 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
72 KIDMORE ROAD MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 09761170 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
A BOLTON LIMITED→ 06523741 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	—	—
A. AND R. PORTER LIMITED→ 00973697 · est 1970 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	56y	—	—
A.A. EADES AND SON LIMITED→ 07292857 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
A1 PREMIUM CONSTRUCTIONS LTD→ 16116988 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
A101 LTD→ 16804025 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
A7 PLUMBING AND HEATING LIMITED→ 10717055 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
AA CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LIMITED→ 10542424 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2004-10-18

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC43220 — Plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation

Registered office

123 Church Road

Earley

Reading

RG6 1HG

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-01

Last: 2025-10-18

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

CATT, Beverley Ann→

secretary · appointed 2004-10-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CATT, Donald→

director · ~65y · appointed 2004-10-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-10-18 · resigned 2004-10-20

Resigned

FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-10-18 · resigned 2004-10-20

Resigned

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