ARDFINNAN CONSULTING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

09373136 · ltd · incorporated 2015-01-05

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 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Information technology consultancy activities

Sector: Information & communication

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 74). 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).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

25 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

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	2025-12-31	2024-12-31

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand

2026-03-29
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-24
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-19
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-07
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-22
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-09
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-14
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-24
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-09-17
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-09-21
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-09-30
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-09-25
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2016-01-07
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annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-11-06
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2015-01-05
🏢
Company incorporated
As ARDFINNAN CONSULTING LIMITED
2015-01-05
➕
PATTENDEN, Nicholas John appointed
director
2015-01-05
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100

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.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.
+No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Nicholas John Pattenden Individual · British · DOB 07/1952 · age 74	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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

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APPROACH CONSULTING LTD→ 13224666 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
ARBSCRIBE LTD→ 16354103 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ARC LABS LIMITED→ 16824784 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ARCHIT CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED→ 12452649 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
ARCHWAY SECURITIES LIMITED→ 14686126 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
ARESINNOVATIONS LIMITED→ 14897789 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ARIO ANALYTICS LTD→ 14308729 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
ARM CONSULTING PVT LIMITED→ 15207042 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2015-01-05

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC62020 — Information technology consultancy activities

Registered office

38 Wand Road

Wells

Somerset

BA5 1WD

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-09-30

Last made up to: 2025-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-16

Last: 2026-01-02

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

PATTENDEN, Nicholas John→

director · ~74y · appointed 2015-01-05

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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