ABBEY SCAFFOLDING HIRE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
07183877 · ltd · incorporated 2010-03-10
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
£-8.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Scaffold erection
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). 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).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (72/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £8,582
Very low cash
Cash position: £86

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£86
Net Worth
-£9k
Current Assets
£86
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-30
Total assets£-8.6k
Current assets£86
Cash£86
Debtors£0
Net assets£-8.6k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-18
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  3. 2025-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-02-29
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  6. 2023-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-04-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2022-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-02-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-02-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-03-09
    📍
    move-registers-to-sail-company-with-new-address
    address · AD03
  14. 2017-03-09
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-new-address
    address · AD02
  15. 2017-01-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2010-03-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABBEY SCAFFOLDING HIRE LIMITED
  17. 2010-03-10
    ➕
    GODFREE, Anthony Francis Paul appointed
    director

Owner dependency

100/100
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 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 16 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

98/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Anthony Francis Paul Godfree
Individual · British · DOB 04/1954 · age 72
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Janet Godfreeceased 01/06/2024· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2010-03-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43991 — Scaffold erection

Registered office

Richard House
9 Winckley Square
Preston
PR1 3HP
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-24
Last: 2026-03-10

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

GODFREE, Anthony Francis Paul→
director · ~72y · appointed 2010-03-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (40 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-16
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-04-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-25
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-02-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-04-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-14