ABILITY DESIGN LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
07592968 · ltd · incorporated 2011-04-05
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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 (79/100)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
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
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
33 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 · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-04-30 | 2024-04-30 |
|---|
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2026-01-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2020-01-21📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-01-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-06📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-01-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-01-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-03-28📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-12-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2015-03-08📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2011-04-05🏢Company incorporatedAs ABILITY DESIGN LIMITED
- 2011-04-05➕CHHANTBAR, Dhiren appointeddirector
Owner dependency
98/100
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.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
- +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 64. 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 Dhiren Chhantbar Individual · British · DOB 03/1962 · age 64 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/03/2017 |
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 · Professional services · M postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A FAIRCLOUGH LTD→ 16822654 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| A FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT CO LIMITED→ 12182907 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ADRACHMA (UK) LIMITED→ 15301907 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ADS GAS SERVICES LTD→ 14372293 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ADSHEAD & ADSHEAD LIMITED→ 12414123 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ADTC LTD.→ 03033291 · est 1995 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 31y | — | — |
| ADVANCE GLOBAL TRAINING LIMITED→ 11781079 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ADVANCED LEGAL CONSULTANTS LIMITED→ 08849110 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ADVANTAGE BUSINESS CONSULTANCY LIMITED→ 12317130 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ADVANTAGE INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP LTD→ 14982266 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ADVANTAGE INFRASTRUCTURE LTD→ 14263646 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AE ACCOUNTANCY LTD→ 13151097 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2011-04-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Registered office
Suite 40 Cariocca Business Park
2 Sawley Road
Manchester
M40 8BB
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-19
Last: 2026-03-05
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
CHHANTBAR, Dhiren→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2011-04-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (33 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-01-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-01-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-01-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-01-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-05
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-01-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-01-09