ACTIVE DESIGN STUDIO LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
06792819 · ltd · incorporated 2009-01-15
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Sept 2024
Net worth
£14.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
81/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
48 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
81/100Exceptional
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
85
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
Positive net assets
Net assets £14,511
Net assets shrinking
Down £126 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£15k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£15k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£3k£6k£9k£12k£15kSept 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£14.5k£14.6k
Current assets£14.6k£14.8k
Cash—£723
Debtors£14.6k£14.0k
Net assets£14.5k£14.6k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-01-18
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2021-01-18
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2021-01-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2021-01-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2020-12-09
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  11. 2020-09-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-01-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-01-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2009-01-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACTIVE DESIGN STUDIO LIMITED
  17. 2009-01-15
    ➕
    WILKINSON, Neville Leslie appointed
    secretary
  18. 2009-01-15
    ➕
    LENNOX, Duncan Ross appointed
    director
  19. 2009-01-15
    ➕
    WILKINSON, Neville Leslie appointed
    director
  20. 2009-01-15
    ➕
    SABAN, Joanna appointed
    director
  21. 2009-01-15
    ➖
    SABAN, Joanna resigned
    director

Owner dependency

76/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

69/100
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.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Neville Leslie Wilkinson
Individual · British · DOB 05/1972 · age 54
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr Duncan Ross Lennox
Individual · British · DOB 05/1966 · age 60
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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.

See pricing →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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
Incorporated2009-01-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Unit 3 Wyndmere Park, Ashwell Road
Steeple Morden
Hertfordshire
SG8 0NZ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-29
Last: 2026-01-15

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

WILKINSON, Neville Leslie→
secretary · appointed 2009-01-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LENNOX, Duncan Ross→
director · ~60y · appointed 2009-01-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WILKINSON, Neville Leslie→
director · ~54y · appointed 2009-01-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SABAN, Joanna→
director · ~53y · appointed 2009-01-15 · resigned 2009-01-15
Resigned

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

Recent filings (48 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-06-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-04-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-03-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-01-18
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-01-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-01-14
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-01-14