A BENTLEY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05407194 · ltd · incorporated 2005-03-30
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
£-34.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Joinery installation
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 72/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. Strong seller-intent signal (78/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -54% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
51 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £34,274
Cash draining
Cash down 54% YoY
Cash YoY
-54%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£616
↓ 54% YoY
Net Worth
-£34k
↓ 12% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
-£34k-£27k-£20k-£13k-£6k£1kJun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Total assets£-34.3k£-30.6k
Cash£616£1.4k
Net assets£-34.3k£-30.6k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-03-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-03-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-04-02
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2019-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-05-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2016-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-04-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-05-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2005-05-04
    ➕
    BENTLEY, Annette appointed
    secretary
  18. 2005-05-04
    ➕
    BENTLEY, Alan appointed
    director
  19. 2005-03-31
    ➖
    HIGHSTONE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2005-03-31
    ➖
    HIGHSTONE DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  21. 2005-03-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A BENTLEY LIMITED
  22. 2005-03-30
    ➕
    HIGHSTONE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  23. 2005-03-30
    ➕
    HIGHSTONE DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BENTLEY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100
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 67. 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 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-04-13

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alan Bentley
Individual · British · DOB 08/1959 · age 67
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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

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ACJ DETAILING LIMITED→
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————9y——
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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
Incorporated2005-03-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43320 — Joinery installation

Registered office

Horley Green House
Horley Green Road Claremount
Halifax
West Yorkshire
HX3 6AS

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-13OVERDUE
Last: 2025-03-30

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

BENTLEY, Annette→
secretary · appointed 2005-05-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BENTLEY, Alan→
director · ~67y · appointed 2005-05-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HIGHSTONE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2005-03-30 · resigned 2005-03-31
Resigned
HIGHSTONE DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2005-03-30 · resigned 2005-03-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (51 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-05-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2019-04-02