ASHTON-PITT LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05467962 · ltd · incorporated 2005-06-01
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 May 2025
Net worth
£-3.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 26400
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 32409SIC 32409
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Deleverage or restructure. Leverage at 100% of assets — consider sale of non-core assets or equity injection. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 15.0y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 15.0 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, 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
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
48 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £2,981
High leverage
Liabilities are 100% of total assets
Leverage
100%
Liabilities / Total assets

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£3k
Current Assets
£9k
Current Liabilities
—
-£3k-£579£2k£4k£7k£9kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£76.9k—
Current assets£9.0k—
Net assets£-3.0k—
Average employees—300

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 gazette
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2026-01-17
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  3. 2026-01-06
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  4. 2025-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-02-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-02-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-02-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-10-17
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-07-23
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  16. 2015-07-14
    ➖
    MCGERTY, Sophie Kay resigned
    director
  17. 2015-07-13
    ➕
    MCGERTY, Sophie Kay appointed
    director
  18. 2011-07-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  19. 2005-06-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASHTON-PITT LIMITED
  20. 2005-06-01
    ➕
    PITT, Jill Annette appointed
    secretary
  21. 2005-06-01
    ➕
    PITT, Christopher David appointed
    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 "PITT" — 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 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 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.
  • 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
Christopher David Pitt
Individual
75–100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest01/10/2016

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

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
Incorporated2005-06-01
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC26400 — SIC 26400

Registered office

3 Fawn Close, Parklands
Askam-In-Furness
Cumbria
LA16 7HS

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-26
Last: 2025-10-12

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

PITT, Jill Annette→
secretary · appointed 2005-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PITT, Christopher David→
director · ~65y · appointed 2005-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCGERTY, Sophie Kay→
director · ~35y · appointed 2015-07-13 · resigned 2015-07-14
Resigned

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
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Debenture1 property15/07/2011—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (48 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-05-29
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2026-01-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-16
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2026-01-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-02-28