221B GAMES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
07364232 · ltd · incorporated 2010-09-02
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Ready-made interactive leisure and entertainment software development
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
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
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
39 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
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£0Sept 2024Sept 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-09-302024-09-30

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
3
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 dissolution
  • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
3
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 dissolution
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 dissolution
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-05
    📄
    gazette-notice-voluntary
    gazette · GAZ1(A)
  2. 2026-04-27
    📄
    dissolution-application-strike-off-company
    dissolution · DS01
  3. 2026-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-06-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-12-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2023-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-07-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-06-10
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2020-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-06-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-04-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2010-09-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 221B GAMES LIMITED
  17. 2010-09-02
    SHULMAN, Justin appointed
    director

Owner dependency

90/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 16 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Justin Shulman
Individual · British · DOB 02/1976 · age 50
75100%
75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2010-09-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC62011 — Ready-made interactive leisure and entertainment software development

Registered office

Hampstead House Suite 58
176 Finchley Road
London
NW3 6BT
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-16
Last: 2025-09-02

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

SHULMAN, Justin
director · ~50y · appointed 2010-09-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (39 total)

gazette-notice-voluntary
gazette · GAZ1(A)
2026-05-05
dissolution-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS01
2026-04-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-04-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-06-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-05-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-07-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-05-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-03