ABILITY WORLD LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
07063560 · ltd · incorporated 2009-11-02
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 May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 47749
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 14.3y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 14.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
37 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 100 | 100 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2026-02-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-02-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-15📄change-account-reference-date-company-current-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2020-02-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-05-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-11-01📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2016-11-01🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2016-05-05📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2016-03-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-23📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-04-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2012-04-10🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
- 2009-11-02🏢Company incorporatedAs ABILITY WORLD LIMITED
- 2009-11-02➕WEATHERBURN, David Andrew appointeddirector
Owner dependency
98/100
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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
- +No director turnover: Company is 17 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
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 64. 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 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 David Andrew Weatherburn Individual · British · DOB 03/1962 · age 64 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Retail · PE postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFRO GIFTING LTD→ 16227659 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AG 95 BRAND LTD→ 16898493 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AHAD TRADERS LIMITED→ 16266520 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AIRBLAST EUROSPRAY LIMITED→ 04490235 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| AIRTIGHT SEAL LTD→ 15385350 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AJW COMMERCE LTD→ 16028521 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AL-FATTAH TRADING LIMITED→ 16692325 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ALBION HOME & LIFESTYLE LTD→ 12364791 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ALEXANDRA MINI MARKET LIMITED→ 12487228 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ALEXIA XANI LTD→ 16661050 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ALFRESCO DINING COMPANY LIMITED→ 12903378 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ALI BABA STORES LIMITED→ 15971365 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
7 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
Incorporated2009-11-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47749 — SIC 47749
Registered office
43 Svenskaby
Orton Wistow
Peterborough
Cambridgeshire
PE2 6YZ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-16
Last: 2025-11-02
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
WEATHERBURN, David Andrew→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2009-11-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
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 Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited | All assets debenture | 1 property | 10/04/2012 | 01/11/2016 |
Recent filings (37 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-10
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2020-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-02-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-07-31