A & S TRADING (BLACKWOOD) LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
06692842 · ltd · incorporated 2008-09-09
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£12.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale in non-specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -68% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 17.3y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 17.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
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
52 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £11,966
Cash draining
Cash down 68% YoY
Cash YoY
-68%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£8k
↓ 68% YoY
Net Worth
£12k
↑ 108% YoY
Current Assets
£67k
↓ 1.2% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £30.2k | £26.4k |
| Current assets | £67.2k | £68.0k |
| Cash | £7.8k | £24.5k |
| Debtors | £20.7k | £7.6k |
| Net assets | £12.0k | £5.8k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-03📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-12-03📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-07-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-05📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-08-05📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-05-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-02📄elect-to-keep-the-directors-residential-address-register-information-on-the-public-registerofficers · EH02
- 2019-08-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-10📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2019-05-10🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2018-08-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-04-15➖WOODFIELD, Anthony John resignedsecretary
- 2009-02-03🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2008-09-09🏢Company incorporatedAs A & S TRADING (BLACKWOOD) LIMITED
- 2008-09-09➕BOURNE-SMITH, Stephen Robert appointeddirector
- 2008-09-09➕WOODFIELD, Anthony John appointedsecretary
- 2008-09-09➕WOODFORD, Anthony John appointeddirector
- 2008-09-09➖WOODFORD, Anthony John resigneddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
88/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- 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.
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Stephen Robert Bourne-Smith Individual · British · DOB 11/1961 · age 65 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 16/08/2016 |
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.
See pricing →Similar companies
Active · Retail · NP postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A & S TRADING (WALES) LIMITED→ 04797638 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| A.R. OPTICAL LIMITED→ 06540922 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| AL-BA SHED LIMITED→ 11315264 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AL-SKY SHISHA LTD→ 12668255 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ALL PS COMMERCE LTD→ 15259562 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ALYUSRA BOOKS LTD→ 17027937 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AMZ MART LTD→ 16728759 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ANCEC LIMITED→ 15102591 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ANDERSON&CO LTD→ 16442540 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ANEENA LIMITED→ 05986616 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| ANGELIC HEN LIMITED→ 06582140 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| ANIMAL ATTIRE LIMITED→ 10606912 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2008-09-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47190 — Other retail sale in non-specialised stores
Registered office
67 Commercial Street
Newport
NP20 1LQ
Wales
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-03
Last: 2026-01-20
Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)
BOURNE-SMITH, Stephen Robert→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2008-09-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
WOODFIELD, Anthony John→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2008-09-09 · resigned 2016-04-15
WOODFORD, Anthony John→
Resigneddirector · ~60y · appointed 2008-09-09 · resigned 2008-09-09
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 03/02/2009 | 10/05/2019 |
Recent filings (52 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-12-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-08-05
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-08-05