ABSOLUTE RETURN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LTD

💤Zombieactive
06624422 · ltd · incorporated 2008-06-19
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
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Turnover
year to Sept 2024
Net worth
£4.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
57/100
Worth a look
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What this business does
Primary activity: Combined office administrative service activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed trade-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 57/100 (worth a look), bankability 45/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (38/100). Current lenders should be on monthly review.

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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
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
60 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
57/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
45
Concerning — overdue filings or status flags present.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
49
Multiple red flags — proceed with caution.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £4,162

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£4k
Current Assets
£150k
Current Liabilities
£0£30k£60k£90k£120k£150kSept 2023Sept 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-09-302023-09-30
Total assets£4.2k
Current assets£150.0k
Net assets£4.2k
Average employees100

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

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 (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2024-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-08-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2023-08-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2023-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-12-28
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  12. 2017-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-10-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2017-07-03
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2016-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-09-15
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  17. 2014-07-17
    DENBY, Paul Antony resigned
    secretary
  18. 2013-12-05
    DENBY, Mark Christian Paul resigned
    director
  19. 2008-06-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABSOLUTE RETURN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LTD
  20. 2008-06-19
    BRITTAIN, Matthew William appointed
    director
  21. 2008-06-19
    DENBY, Paul Antony appointed
    secretary
  22. 2008-06-19
    DENBY, Mark Christian Paul appointed
    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 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

63/100
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.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 18 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 18 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

2 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-06-30

Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-04-30

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Matthew Brittain
Individual · British · DOB 11/1978 · age 48
75100%
75-100% shares06/04/2016

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.

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10616213 · est 2017 · no financials extracted
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
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10 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.

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2008-06-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC82110 — Combined office administrative service activities

Registered office

Building 2 Ground Floor,
Guildford Business Park
Guildford
GU2 8XG
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-30OVERDUE
Last: 2025-04-16

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

BRITTAIN, Matthew William
director · ~48y · appointed 2008-06-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DENBY, Paul Antony
secretary · appointed 2008-06-19 · resigned 2014-07-17
Resigned
DENBY, Mark Christian Paul
director · ~53y · appointed 2008-06-19 · resigned 2013-12-05
Resigned

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

Recent filings (60 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-07-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-08-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-08-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-08