ABBEY BOOKBINDING & PRINTING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
09083825 · ltd · incorporated 2014-06-12
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Other publishing activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

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: 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: 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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
30 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-06-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2019-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-04-05
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2018-04-05
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  12. 2018-04-01
    ➖
    COTTRELL, Pamela Cecilia resigned
    director
  13. 2018-04-01
    ➖
    COTTRELL, Roger Eugene resigned
    director
  14. 2017-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-07-24
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  16. 2016-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-06-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2014-06-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABBEY BOOKBINDING & PRINTING LIMITED
  19. 2014-06-12
    ➕
    COTTRELL, Darren Roger appointed
    director
  20. 2014-06-12
    ➕
    COTTRELL, Pamela Cecilia appointed
    director
  21. 2014-06-12
    ➕
    COTTRELL, Roger Eugene 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

50/100
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.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

clean
No 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Darren Roger Cottrell
Individual · British · DOB 10/1973 · age 53
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Technology · CF postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
12 KNIGHTS CIC→
16262514 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
24 SECURITY LIMITED→
06349050 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
————18y——
31 LIMITED→
06989584 · est 2009 · no financials extracted
————16y——
3RD-AI LIMITED→
16341261 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
5CEEZ LTD→
16250825 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
8LENS* LTD→
16205638 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
97WEBSITES LIMITED→
08987622 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
————12y——
AADZUP.COM LTD→
10354698 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
————9y——
AB&MB LIMITED→
12181904 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
————6y——
ABASET COLLECTIONS LTD→
12944611 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
————5y——
ABBEYSTREET LIMITED→
03291183 · est 1996 · no financials extracted
————29y——
ABC LABS LTD→
17080094 · est 2026 · no financials extracted
———————
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
Incorporated2014-06-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58190 — Other publishing activities

Registered office

Unit 3 Clos Menter Gabalfa Workshops
Western Avenue
Cardiff
CF14 3AY

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-08
Last: 2025-06-24

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

COTTRELL, Darren Roger→
director · ~53y · appointed 2014-06-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COTTRELL, Pamela Cecilia→
director · ~76y · appointed 2014-06-12 · resigned 2018-04-01
Resigned
COTTRELL, Roger Eugene→
director · ~77y · appointed 2014-06-12 · resigned 2018-04-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (30 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-24
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-23