A&J OPTICIANS LTD
💤Zombieactive
08008689 · ltd · incorporated 2012-03-27
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
£-39.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other human health activities
Sector: Human health & social work
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 74/100 (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: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -56% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (65/100).
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, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
38 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredNegative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £39,473
Net assets shrinking
Down £44,080 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 56% YoY
Cash YoY
-56%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£8k
↓ 56% YoY
Net Worth
-£39k
↓ 957% YoY
Current Assets
£42k
↓ 1.3% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £80.8k | £63.0k |
| Current assets | £41.9k | £42.5k |
| Cash | £7.8k | £17.9k |
| Debtors | £13.1k | £3.6k |
| Net assets | £-39.5k | £4.6k |
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 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-10-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-01-09📄capital-return-purchase-own-sharescapital · SH03
- 2020-01-01➖BRADY, Anita resigneddirector
- 2020-01-01📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2020-01-01📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2019-10-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-03-29📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-07-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2012-03-27🏢Company incorporatedAs A&J OPTICIANS LTD
- 2012-03-27➕TAYLOR-SHORT, James appointeddirector
- 2012-03-27➕BRADY, Anita appointeddirector
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
58/100
Strong succession signalMultiple 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 14 years.
- 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
James Taylor-Short Individual · British · DOB 08/1977 · age 49 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Anita Bradyceased 01/01/2020· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Healthcare & medical · EX postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21ST CENTURY CHIROPRACTIC LTD→ 06471110 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| A & J MCKENZIE LTD→ 13554152 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| A C REDFERN LIMITED→ 11820524 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ABBEYWOOD HOUSECARE LIMITED→ 04107316 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| ABC DAY NURSERY (CULLOMPTON) LIMITED→ 07569759 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| ABOLSOUD MEDICAL LTD→ 14031030 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ABSOLUTE CARE GROUP LTD→ 14659958 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ABSOLUTE CARE SOUTH WEST LTD→ 07705235 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| AC.CC LIMITED→ 10412881 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ACCIPETEX SYSTEM LTD→ 15132128 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ACCUTECH LIMITED→ 08692694 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ACE ENABLING SERVICES LTD→ 11833075 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2012-03-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC86900 — Other human health activities
Registered office
10 Fore Street
Torrington
Devon
EX38 8HQ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-10
Last: 2026-03-27
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
TAYLOR-SHORT, James→
Activedirector · ~49y · appointed 2012-03-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BRADY, Anita→
Resigneddirector · ~58y · appointed 2012-03-27 · resigned 2020-01-01
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (38 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-03
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2020-01-09
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2020-01-01