APPLETON PROPERTY COMPANY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
07556920 · ltd · incorporated 2011-03-09
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£-1.72M
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of other holding companies n.e.c.
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed asset-holding vehicle — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 70/100 (strong), bankability 57/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 4 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

10 live charges · 4 lenders · oldest 15.3y

15/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 15.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 4 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (71/100)

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
10 charges (10/10 with lender, 10/10 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
53 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
70/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
74
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £1,724,279

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£8k
Net Worth
-£1.7m
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-31
Cash£8.2k
Net assets£-1.72M

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 signals 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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (35 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-12-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-09-06
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  4. 2025-09-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2025-07-29
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  6. 2024-07-15
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  7. 2024-07-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #10
    Lender: Qib (UK) PLC
  8. 2024-03-19
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AAMD
  9. 2024-02-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2023-04-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  11. 2023-04-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  12. 2023-04-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  13. 2023-04-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #9
    Lender: Qib (UK) PLC
  14. 2023-04-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #8
    Lender: Qib (UK) PLC
  15. 2023-04-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #7
    Lender: Qib (UK) PLC
  16. 2023-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2021-09-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2021-02-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2020-01-20
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  20. 2020-01-20
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  21. 2020-01-14
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  22. 2020-01-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  23. 2020-01-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #6
    Lender: Qib (UK) PLC
  24. 2020-01-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Qib (UK) PLC
  25. 2020-01-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Qib (UK) PLC
  26. 2019-12-23
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  27. 2019-12-23
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  28. 2019-06-12
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  29. 2014-09-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  30. 2013-11-13
    ➖
    APPLETON, Patricia resigned
    secretary
  31. 2013-04-29
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Abbey National Treasury Services PLC
  32. 2011-04-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Abbey National Treasury Services PLC (The Secured Party)
  33. 2011-03-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APPLETON PROPERTY COMPANY LIMITED
  34. 2011-03-09
    ➕
    APPLETON, Tom John Charles appointed
    director
  35. 2011-03-09
    ➕
    APPLETON, Patricia appointed
    secretary

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 "APPLETON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

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 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

1 med · 1 low
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

7 live charges
low

Heavily leveraged with multiple live security positions — understand the capital structure before proceeding.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Tom John Charles Appleton
Individual · British · DOB 04/1976 · age 50
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2011-03-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64209 — Activities of other holding companies n.e.c.

Registered office

22 Chancery Lane
London
WC2A 1LS
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-23
Last: 2026-03-09

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

APPLETON, Tom John Charles→
director · ~50y · appointed 2011-03-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
APPLETON, Patricia→
secretary · appointed 2011-03-09 · resigned 2013-11-13
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

10
Total charges
7
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:10 of 10 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Qib (UK)
Qib (UK) PLC
A registered charge1 property12/07/2024—
outstanding
Qib (UK)
Qib (UK) PLC
A registered charge1 property03/04/2023—
outstanding
Qib (UK)
Qib (UK) PLC
A registered charge1 property03/04/2023—
outstanding
Qib (UK)
Qib (UK) PLC
A registered charge1 property03/04/2023—
outstanding
Qib (UK)
Qib (UK) PLC
A registered charge1 property02/01/2020—
outstanding
Qib (UK)
Qib (UK) PLC
A registered charge1 property02/01/2020—
outstanding
Qib (UK)
Qib (UK) PLC
A registered charge1 property02/01/2020—
satisfied
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
A registered charge—15/09/201412/06/2019
satisfied
Santander
Abbey National Treasury Services PLC
A registered charge1 property29/04/201323/12/2019
satisfied
Santander
Abbey National Treasury Services PLC (The Secured Party)
Security interest agreement1 property15/04/201123/12/2019
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (53 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-13
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-12-04
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-05
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-10
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2024-07-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-21
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2024-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-18
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2023-04-04
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2023-04-04
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2023-04-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-30