A 2 B DESPATCH LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05588305 · ltd · incorporated 2005-10-10
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
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Postal activities under universal service obligation
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. 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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 19.4y

30/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 19.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · 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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
65 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Oct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31

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 persons-with-significant-control
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-17
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2025-07-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-10-28
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  4. 2024-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-07-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-07-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-04-01
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  9. 2021-04-01
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  10. 2020-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-10-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  12. 2019-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-06-25
    CURANT, Mark appointed
    secretary
  15. 2018-06-25
    CURANT, Tony resigned
    secretary
  16. 2018-06-25
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  17. 2018-06-25
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  18. 2018-04-20
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  19. 2018-04-20
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Limited
  20. 2017-06-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  21. 2006-12-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Rbs Invoice Finance Limited
  22. 2005-10-12
    ABERGAN REED NOMINEES LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2005-10-12
    ABERGAN REED LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2005-10-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A 2 B DESPATCH LIMITED
  25. 2005-10-10
    CURANT, Kelly Ann appointed
    director
  26. 2005-10-10
    CURANT, Tony appointed
    secretary
  27. 2005-10-10
    ABERGAN REED NOMINEES LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 2005-10-10
    ABERGAN REED LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

85/100
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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong 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 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Mark Curant
Individual · British · DOB 03/1973 · age 53
2550%
25-50% shares10/10/2016

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

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
Incorporated2005-10-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC53100 — Postal activities under universal service obligation

Registered office

223 Commonside East
Mitcham
Surrey
CR4 1HB

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-07
Last: 2025-09-23

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

CURANT, Mark
secretary · appointed 2018-06-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CURANT, Kelly Ann
director · ~52y · appointed 2005-10-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CURANT, Tony
secretary · appointed 2005-10-10 · resigned 2018-06-25
Resigned
ABERGAN REED NOMINEES LTD
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-10-10 · resigned 2005-10-12
Resigned
ABERGAN REED LIMITED
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-10-10 · resigned 2005-10-12
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Limited
A registered charge20/04/2018
satisfied
NatWest Group
Rbs Invoice Finance Limited
Fixed and floating charge1 property04/12/200601/04/2021
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (65 total)

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-02-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-28
change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2024-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-22
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2021-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-27