BELOW ZERO DEVON LTD
🌳Matureactive
06906770 · ltd · incorporated 2009-05-15
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Repair of machinery
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (76/100)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 (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
40 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-05-31 | 2024-05-31 |
|---|
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-29📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-07-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-11📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2020-02-01➕RICHARDSON, Donna Lucinda appointeddirector
- 2019-09-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-07-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-07-04📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2017-01-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-29📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2016-02-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2009-05-15🏢Company incorporatedAs BELOW ZERO DEVON LTD
- 2009-05-15➕RICHARDSON, Donna Lucinda appointedsecretary
- 2009-05-15➕RICHARDSON, Shaun appointeddirector
Owner dependency
84/100
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
- +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 63 — approaching natural succession window.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
79/100
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 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- 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
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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Shaun Richardson Individual · British · DOB 04/1963 · age 63 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| AXMINSTER CARPETS (DESIGN) LIMITED→ 16712132 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BARRY ANTHONY WRIGHT LIMITED→ 16078689 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BEACH BROS. LIMITED→ 00372166 · est 1942 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 84y | — | — |
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| BERTOPACK SERVICES LIMITED→ 01184206 · est 1974 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 51y | — | — |
| BESPOKE PLASTIC FABRICATIONS LIMITED→ 11166947 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| BEXSIMON LIMITED→ 07214627 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2009-05-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC33120 — Repair of machinery
Registered office
3 Leave Acre
New Buildings, Sandford
Crediton
Devon
EX17 4PL
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-29
Last: 2026-05-15
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
RICHARDSON, Donna Lucinda→
Activesecretary · appointed 2009-05-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
RICHARDSON, Donna Lucinda→
Activedirector · ~61y · appointed 2020-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
RICHARDSON, Shaun→
Activedirector · ~63y · appointed 2009-05-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (40 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-07-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-18
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2020-02-11