ACUMEN TRADING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05730815 · ltd · incorporated 2006-03-06
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£-220
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Agents involved in the sale of a variety of goods
Sector: Wholesale & retail
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 (70/100, director aged 59). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -91% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
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
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 · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £220
Net assets shrinking
Down £372 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 91% YoY
Cash YoY
-91%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£106
↓ 91% YoY
Net Worth
-£220
↓ 245% YoY
Current Assets
£12k
↑ 435% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£220£2k£5k£7k£10k£12kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£4.8k£152
Current assets£12.3k£2.3k
Cash£106£1.2k
Debtors£12.2k£1.1k
Net assets£-220£152

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-18
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  4. 2023-10-18
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2023-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-10-11
    ➖
    SHAHID, Shazia resigned
    secretary
  7. 2022-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-11-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-11-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-12-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-10-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-12-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-04-12
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-03-10
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2007-01-17
    ➕
    SHAHID, Shazia appointed
    secretary
  18. 2007-01-15
    ➖
    HUSSAIN, Amjid resigned
    secretary
  19. 2006-03-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACUMEN TRADING LIMITED
  20. 2006-03-06
    ➕
    MIRZA, Shahid appointed
    director
  21. 2006-03-06
    ➕
    HUSSAIN, Amjid appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

93/100
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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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 Shahid Mirza
Individual · British · DOB 10/1967 · age 59
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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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
Incorporated2006-03-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46190 — Agents involved in the sale of a variety of goods

Registered office

Artisans' House
7 Queensbridge
Northampton
Northamptonshire
NN4 7BF

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-01
Last: 2025-10-18

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

MIRZA, Shahid→
director · ~59y · appointed 2006-03-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HUSSAIN, Amjid→
secretary · appointed 2006-03-06 · resigned 2007-01-15
Resigned
SHAHID, Shazia→
secretary · appointed 2007-01-17 · resigned 2023-10-11
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
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-18
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-10-18
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-19