APPLETON COMMERCIAL SERVICES LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
08319492 · ltd · incorporated 2012-12-05
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 38320
Sector: Water supply & waste
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 74/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. 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).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 2.5y
10/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Newest facility, 2.5 years old — likely still in initial term.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (77/100)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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 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
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
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 · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 2 | 500 |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
- 2026-02-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-06-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-03-08📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2025-02-27📄dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspendeddissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
- 2025-02-25📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2024-05-20📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2024-05-20🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2023-12-19📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2023-12-18🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Skipton Business Finance Limited
- 2023-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-19📄appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP03
- 2023-04-19📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2023-03-20➕APPLETON, John appointedsecretary
- 2023-03-20➖APPLETON, Carla Susan resignedsecretary
- 2022-08-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-08-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-09-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2012-12-05🏢Company incorporatedAs APPLETON COMMERCIAL SERVICES LIMITED
- 2012-12-05➕APPLETON, John appointeddirector
- 2012-12-05➕APPLETON, Carla Susan appointedsecretary
- 2012-12-05➕KAHAN, Barbara appointeddirector
- 2012-12-05➖KAHAN, Barbara resigneddirector
Owner dependency
90/100
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.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "APPLETON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
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 13 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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr John Appleton Individual · British · DOB 05/1974 · age 52 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA NAT GAS LTD→ 14767693 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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| BLAKE SOLUTIONS LTD→ 16118750 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BLARGHOUR WIND FARM LIMITED→ 09171723 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| BRIGHT SPARKS & SON LIMITED→ 08580418 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| BRITISH GAS LIMITED→ 08811254 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| BRITISH GAS TRADING LIMITED→ 03078711 · est 1995 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 30y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2012-12-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC38320 — SIC 38320
Registered office
2 Lake End Court
Taplow Road, Taplow
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 0JQ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-19
Last: 2025-12-05
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
Active
APPLETON, John→
Activedirector · ~52y · appointed 2012-12-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
APPLETON, Carla Susan→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2012-12-05 · resigned 2023-03-20
KAHAN, Barbara→
Resigneddirector · ~95y · appointed 2012-12-05 · resigned 2012-12-05
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Skipton Business Finance Skipton Business Finance Limited | A registered charge | 1 property | 18/12/2023 | 20/05/2024 |
Recent filings (38 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-12
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-03-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-07
dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2025-02-27
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-02-25
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-05-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-24
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2023-12-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-28
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2023-04-19
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-31