ASCEND HEALTH LTD

💤Zombieactive
08816948 · ltd · incorporated 2013-12-16
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
£-83.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of insurance agents and brokers
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 71/100 (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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 5 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
44 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
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
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £83,096

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£2k
Net Worth
-£83k
Current Assets
£15k
Current Liabilities
-£83k-£63k-£44k-£24k-£5k£15kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£-83.1k
Current assets£15.0k
Cash£1.6k
Debtors£13.4k
Net assets£-83.1k
Average employees400

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
3
filings
  • 1 incorporation
  • 1 resolution
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Last 180 days
7
filings
  • 3 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 incorporation
  • 1 resolution
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-24
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  2. 2026-03-24
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  3. 2026-02-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  4. 2026-02-20
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2025-12-18
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  6. 2025-12-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2025-08-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2024-07-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2024-07-12
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  10. 2023-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-04-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2022-02-08
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2022-02-01
    HARRINGTON, Lianne resigned
    director
  14. 2022-01-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2021-11-08
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  16. 2021-11-08
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  17. 2021-11-08
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  18. 2021-11-05
    COLLINS, Matthew James appointed
    director
  19. 2021-05-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2020-11-18
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  21. 2020-11-01
    OXBERRY, Frank Edwin resigned
    director
  22. 2020-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  23. 2017-10-01
    OXBERRY, Frank Edwin appointed
    director
  24. 2015-01-15
    BARBER, Linda Elaine resigned
    director
  25. 2014-10-01
    HARRINGTON, Lianne appointed
    director
  26. 2014-10-01
    KOSTER, Marian resigned
    director
  27. 2013-12-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASCEND HEALTH LTD
  28. 2013-12-16
    BARBER, Linda Elaine appointed
    director
  29. 2013-12-16
    KOSTER, Marian appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material 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

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 med ·
Name changed recently
medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2024-07-12: certificate-change-of-name-company

Group structure

Ascend Broking Group Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Ascend Broking Group Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
ASCEND HEALTH LTD
This company · 08816948

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ascend Broking Group Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control05/11/2021
3 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Andrew Leonard Barberceased 20/01/2026· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control
  • Andrew Leonard Barberceased 05/11/2021· 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control
  • Complete English Kitchens Limitedceased 01/10/2017· 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control

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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44 BENEFIT SOLUTIONS LIMITED
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02061670 · est 1986 · no financials extracted
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13989532 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
4y
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04425477 · est 2002 · no financials extracted
23y
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08772076 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
12y
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15745234 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
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11972856 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
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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
Incorporated2013-12-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC66220 — Activities of insurance agents and brokers

Registered office

Saxon House
Duke Street
Chelmsford
CM1 1HT
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-30
Last: 2025-12-16

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

COLLINS, Matthew James
director · ~55y · appointed 2021-11-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BARBER, Linda Elaine
director · ~71y · appointed 2013-12-16 · resigned 2015-01-15
Resigned
HARRINGTON, Lianne
director · ~54y · appointed 2014-10-01 · resigned 2022-02-01
Resigned
KOSTER, Marian
director · ~83y · appointed 2013-12-16 · resigned 2014-10-01
Resigned
OXBERRY, Frank Edwin
director · ~58y · appointed 2017-10-01 · resigned 2020-11-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (44 total)

memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2026-03-24
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2026-03-24
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2026-02-27
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-02-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-05
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-12-18
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-15
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2024-07-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-06