ALCUIN OF YORK LTD
💤Zombieactive
08455215 · ltd · incorporated 2013-03-21
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Licenced restaurants
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. 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).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 12.3y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 12.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 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
39 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
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
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 · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 2000 | 2000 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-02📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2019-04-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-04-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-07-19📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2017-04-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2017-01-05📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2017-01-05📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2016-09-07📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2016-07-01📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-01-30🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Santander UK PLC (As Security Trustee for Each Group Member)
- 2013-03-21🏢Company incorporatedAs ALCUIN OF YORK LTD
- 2013-03-21➕CONNELLY, Roland appointedsecretary
- 2013-03-21➕CONNELLY, Christie Frederick appointeddirector
Owner dependency
88/100
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.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.
- +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
78/100
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 63. 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 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 Christie Frederick Connelly Individual · British · DOB 11/1963 · age 63 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A TASTE OF WENSLEYDALE LTD→ 15632999 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| A TURNBULL STATIC CARAVAN SALES NORTH EAST LTD→ 15113913 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| A&M WOOD LTD→ 16102664 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| A1 CROWN TAKEAWAY LTD→ 13570289 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ABU'S RESTAURANT LTD→ 16327056 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AC/CC EVENTS LIMITED→ 16974958 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADAMS AND CATERING LTD→ 15939980 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ADAMS PIZZERIA DARLINGTON LTD→ 11487881 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AETY LTD→ 13939061 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| AFROC DELI LIMITED→ 12526325 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| AJ PIZZA RESTAURANT LIMITED→ 16599819 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ALDERSON GRAY & FOGGIN LTD→ 16228061 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2013-03-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56101 — Licenced restaurants
Registered office
The Golden Lion West End
Osmotherley
Northallerton
DL6 3AA
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-10
Last: 2025-06-26
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
Active
CONNELLY, Christie Frederick→
Activedirector · ~63y · appointed 2013-03-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Santander Santander UK PLC (As Security Trustee for Each Group Member) | A registered charge | 1 property | 30/01/2014 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (39 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-05-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-06-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-06-26