AMBER VALLEY WINES LTD

💤Zombieactive
07610146 · ltd · incorporated 2011-04-20
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 Oct 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 11020
Sector: Manufacturing
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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
45 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£0Oct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31

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
1
filing
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-01
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2025-08-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-06-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-07-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2018-06-03
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2018-06-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  12. 2018-05-22
    MERCER, Duncan Stuart resigned
    director
  13. 2018-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-03-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-05-05
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2016-03-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  17. 2011-04-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AMBER VALLEY WINES LTD
  18. 2011-04-20
    LEWIS, Barry appointed
    director
  19. 2011-04-20
    MERCER, Duncan Stuart appointed
    director

Owner dependency

85/100
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 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

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 Barry Lewis
Individual · British · DOB 02/1971 · age 55
75100%
75-100% shares06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Duncan Stuart Mercerceased 22/05/2018· 25-50% shares

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
Incorporated2011-04-20
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC11020 — SIC 11020

Registered office

2 King George Street
Wessington
Alfreton
DE55 6DZ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-21
Last: 2026-01-07

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

LEWIS, Barry
director · ~55y · appointed 2011-04-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MERCER, Duncan Stuart
director · ~51y · appointed 2011-04-20 · resigned 2018-05-22
Resigned

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

Recent filings (45 total)

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-11
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-04-25