AFRICA STUDIOS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

05798182 · ltd · incorporated 2006-04-27

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 Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

67/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Sound recording and music publishing activities

Sector: Information & communication

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 67/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (65/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

49 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

67/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Adequate — check latest filings for context.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Some moderate concerns — review flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Average employees	200	200

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2026-01-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-01-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-05-23
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-22
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-05-22
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2015-01-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-05-22
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2013-08-12
➖
CARR, Helen resigned
secretary
2006-05-01
➕
CARR, Helen appointed
secretary
2006-04-27
🏢
Company incorporated
As AFRICA STUDIOS LIMITED
2006-04-27
➕
WILLIAMSON, Colin David appointed
director
2006-04-27
➕
BHARDWAJ, Ashok appointed
nominee-secretary
2006-04-27
➖
BHARDWAJ, Ashok resigned
nominee-secretary
2006-04-27
➕
BHARDWAJ CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2006-04-27
➖
BHARDWAJ CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED resigned
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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

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.

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: 2026-05-11

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Colin David Williamson Individual · British · DOB 02/1970 · age 56	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	31/07/2016

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

8 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

Incorporated2006-04-27

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC59200 — Sound recording and music publishing activities

Registered office

Unit 2d Salisbury Hall

1 Park Road

Hull

East Yorkshire

HU3 1TD

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-11OVERDUE

Last: 2025-04-27

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

WILLIAMSON, Colin David→

director · ~56y · appointed 2006-04-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BHARDWAJ, Ashok→

nominee-secretary · appointed 2006-04-27 · resigned 2006-04-27

Resigned

CARR, Helen→

secretary · appointed 2006-05-01 · resigned 2013-08-12

Resigned

BHARDWAJ CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-04-27 · resigned 2006-04-27

Resigned

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