AMBLER BLACKBURN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
07361641 · ltd · incorporated 2010-09-01
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Financial intermediation not elsewhere classified
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 68). 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 (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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
41 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Average employees100100

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 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-01-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-11-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2018-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-09-01
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2017-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-03-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2017-02-23
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  15. 2017-02-14
    ➖
    BLACKBURN, Richard Paul resigned
    director
  16. 2017-02-10
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  17. 2017-02-09
    ➕
    AMBLER, Ian appointed
    director
  18. 2014-07-22
    ➖
    AMBLER, Ian resigned
    director
  19. 2010-09-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AMBLER BLACKBURN LIMITED
  20. 2010-09-01
    ➕
    AMBLER, Ian appointed
    director
  21. 2010-09-01
    ➕
    BLACKBURN, Richard 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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "AMBLER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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 Ian Ambler
Individual · British · DOB 03/1958 · age 68
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Richard Paul Blackburnceased 01/09/2017· 25-50% shares

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2010-09-01
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64999 — Financial intermediation not elsewhere classified

Registered office

2 Ingleborough View Butts Lane
Bentham
Lancaster
LA2 7AE
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-15
Last: 2025-09-01

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

AMBLER, Ian→
director · ~68y · appointed 2017-02-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
AMBLER, Ian→
director · ~68y · appointed 2010-09-01 · resigned 2014-07-22
Resigned
BLACKBURN, Richard Paul→
director · ~61y · appointed 2010-09-01 · resigned 2017-02-14
Resigned

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

Recent filings (41 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-01-08