ABILITY PLAYGROUNDS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
07504743 · ltd · incorporated 2011-01-25
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 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). 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: high (80/100)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
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
31 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 · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-09-30 | 2023-09-30 |
|---|
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-06-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-01-26📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-11-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2015-02-02📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-01-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2014-01-27📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2013-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2011-01-25🏢Company incorporatedAs ABILITY PLAYGROUNDS LIMITED
- 2011-01-25➕LLOYD-JONES, Hefin appointeddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
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 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 15 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 66. 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 15 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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 Hefin Lloyd-Jones Individual · British · DOB 10/1960 · age 66 | 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.
🔒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 →Similar companies
Active · Manufacturing · LL postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1CARBON LTD→ 17014721 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 D MOTORSPORT LIMITED→ 05557360 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| 316 MARINE FABRICATION LIMITED→ 14739112 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| 3D ON DEMAND LTD→ 13696468 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| 3R DESIGN LTD→ 09476630 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ABARTECH LIMITED→ 07988946 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| ABERSOCH BOAT WORKS LIMITED→ 15113721 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ABERSOCH MARINE AND CHARTER LIMITED→ 11697832 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ABOVE THE BRINE LTD→ 12699436 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGY LIMITED→ 02874855 · est 1993 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 32y | — | — |
| ACCESS CONTROL SOLUTIONS NW LTD→ 16366512 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACOIA CYF→ 13123333 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2011-01-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Registered office
Station Road
Bethesda
Gwynedd
LL57 3NE
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-08
Last: 2026-01-25
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
LLOYD-JONES, Hefin→
Activedirector · ~66y · appointed 2011-01-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (31 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-04-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-11-29