ARDENT FIREWORKS LTD

💤Zombieactive
07801591 · ltd · incorporated 2011-10-07
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (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 (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
33 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees-100-100

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-21
    MCCLOSKEY, Theresa-Marie resigned
    secretary
  4. 2024-03-21
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  5. 2023-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-02-04
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  8. 2022-02-04
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2022-02-04
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2021-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-02-01
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  15. 2017-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-07-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2011-10-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARDENT FIREWORKS LTD
  18. 2011-10-07
    MCCLOSKEY, Craig appointed
    director
  19. 2011-10-07
    MCCLOSKEY, Theresa-Marie appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • 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 Craig Mccloskey
Individual · British · DOB 12/1965 · age 61
75100%
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

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
Incorporated2011-10-07
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47789 — Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)

Registered office

Unit 2f Hampden Road
Pocklington
York
YO42 1NR

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-21
Last: 2025-10-07

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

MCCLOSKEY, Craig
director · ~61y · appointed 2011-10-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCCLOSKEY, Theresa-Marie
secretary · appointed 2011-10-07 · resigned 2024-03-21
Resigned

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
2025-10-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-25
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-03-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-27
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2022-02-04
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-02-04
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-02-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-27