DEVON FINANCE LTD

💤Zombieactive
08886301 · ltd · incorporated 2014-02-11
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
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Turnover
year to Feb 2024
Net worth
£1.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
55/100
Worth a look
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of mortgage finance companies
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed financial-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 55/100 (worth a look), bankability 45/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (40/100). Current lenders should be on monthly review.

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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
39 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
55/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
45
Concerning — overdue filings or status flags present.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
49
Multiple red flags — proceed with caution.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,624
Net assets shrinking
Down £111,884 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£2k
↓ 99% YoY
Current Assets
£166k
Current Liabilities
£0£33k£67k£100k£133k£166kFeb 2023Feb 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-02-282023-02-28
Total assets£29.0k£86.2k
Current assets£166.5k
Net assets£1.6k£113.5k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • 1 dissolution
  • 1 gazette
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 dissolution
  • 1 gazette
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-15
    📄
    dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
    dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
  2. 2026-04-28
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  3. 2025-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-11-25
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2024-11-22
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  6. 2023-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-03-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2023-03-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2023-03-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2023-03-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2023-03-22
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2023-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2021-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2021-09-13
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2020-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2020-02-10
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  17. 2020-02-10
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  18. 2019-11-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2018-07-23
    TARRANT, Andrew Kenneth resigned
    director
  20. 2014-02-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DEVON FINANCE LTD
  21. 2014-02-11
    TARRANT, Sarah Dawn appointed
    director
  22. 2014-02-11
    TARRANT, Andrew Kenneth 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

53/100
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.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 years.

Red flags

2 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-02-28

Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-02-25

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Andrew Kenneth Tarrant
Individual · English · DOB 08/1960 · age 66
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting12/02/2024
Mrs Sarah Dawn Tarrant
Individual · English · DOB 07/1972 · age 54
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Andrew Kenneth Tarrantceased 12/02/2022· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • Sarah Dawn Tarrantceased 06/04/2016· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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

10 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
Incorporated2014-02-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64922 — Activities of mortgage finance companies

Registered office

Wessex House
Teign Road
Newton Abbot,
Devon
TQ12 4AA
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-02-28OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2024-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-02-25OVERDUE
Last: 2025-02-11

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

TARRANT, Sarah Dawn
director · ~54y · appointed 2014-02-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TARRANT, Andrew Kenneth
director · ~66y · appointed 2014-02-11 · resigned 2018-07-23
Resigned

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

Recent filings (39 total)

dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2026-05-15
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2026-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-25
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-11-25
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-03-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-22
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-03-22
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-03-22
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-28