APPLIED HOLDINGS LTD

💤Zombieactive
09367731 · ltd · incorporated 2014-12-29
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£-70.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of distribution holding companies
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed asset-holding vehicle — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 70/100 (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: distressed disposal / insolvency (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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
6 connected companies via shared directors
63
Filing history
28 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
70/100Strong
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
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £70,148
Net assets shrinking
Down £70,348 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
-£70k
↓ 35174% YoY
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
-£70k-£56k-£42k-£28k-£14k£200Mar 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
Total assets£-70.1k£200
Debtors£1
Net assets£-70.1k£200

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-13
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  3. 2025-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-06-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-03-20
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  10. 2019-03-19
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  11. 2018-07-31
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  12. 2018-07-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-07-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-09-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-04-29
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2014-12-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APPLIED HOLDINGS LTD
  17. 2014-12-29
    SPELLER, David James appointed
    director

Owner dependency

80/100
Critical — business is the founder

The 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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

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

1 med ·
Name changed recently
medium

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

Evidence: 2025-05-13: certificate-change-of-name-company

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David James Speller
Individual · British · DOB 03/1973 · age 53
75100%
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.

🔒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

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
Incorporated2014-12-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64204 — Activities of distribution holding companies

Registered office

Lewis House
Great Chesterford Court
Great Chesterford
Essex
CB10 1PF

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-12
Last: 2025-12-29

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

SPELLER, David James
director · ~53y · appointed 2014-12-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (28 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-20
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2025-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-06-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-10-30