AFRICAN ARTISANS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05763975 · ltd · incorporated 2006-03-31
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
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (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 (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
51 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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£0Jun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-06-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-03-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-04-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-03-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-03-30
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  12. 2017-03-30
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2017-03-30
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2017-03-29
    HILL, Stephen John appointed
    director
  15. 2017-03-29
    DIMENT, Nicola Jayne resigned
    director
  16. 2017-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-04-12
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2006-05-08
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2006-03-31
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AFRICAN ARTISANS LIMITED
  20. 2006-03-31
    HILL, Stephen John appointed
    secretary
  21. 2006-03-31
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2006-03-31
    DIMENT, Nicola Jayne appointed
    director

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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 Stephen John Hill
Individual · English · DOB 03/1966 · age 60
sig. influencesignificant influence30/03/2017

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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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
Incorporated2006-03-31
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47910 — Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet

Registered office

Small Business Accountancy Ltd Unit 16, Wills Business Park
Salmon Parade
Bridgwater
TA6 5JT
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last: 2026-03-17

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

HILL, Stephen John
secretary · appointed 2006-03-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HILL, Stephen John
director · ~60y · appointed 2017-03-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED
corporate-secretary · appointed 2006-03-31 · resigned 2006-05-08
Resigned
DIMENT, Nicola Jayne
director · ~57y · appointed 2006-03-31 · resigned 2017-03-29
Resigned

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

Recent filings (51 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-03-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-03-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-06-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-31