AITCH & DEE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
09455709 · ltd · incorporated 2015-02-24
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 Feb 2026
Net worth
£9.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Book publishing
Sector: Information & communication
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 68320Management of real estate on a fee or contract basis
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle 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, 2 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, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
26 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £9,235

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£9k
↑ 3.4% YoY
Current Assets
£9k
↓ 2.3% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£2k£4k£6k£7k£9kFeb 2025Feb 2026

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2026-02-282025-02-28
Total assets£9.3k£9.5k
Current assets£9.2k£9.4k
Net assets£9.2k£8.9k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-03-15
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  6. 2022-11-29
    ➖
    DARBYSHIRE, John Anthony Charles resigned
    director
  7. 2022-11-29
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2022-10-09
    ➖
    DARBYSHIRE, John Anthony Charles resigned
    secretary
  9. 2022-04-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-03-28
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2021-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-06-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-02-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2015-02-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AITCH & DEE LIMITED
  19. 2015-02-24
    ➕
    DARBYSHIRE, John Hamish Mcgregor appointed
    director
  20. 2015-02-24
    ➕
    DARBYSHIRE, John Anthony Charles appointed
    secretary
  21. 2015-02-24
    ➕
    DARBYSHIRE, John Anthony Charles 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 John Hamish Mcgregor Darbyshire
Individual · British · DOB 09/1984 · age 42
75–100%
—75-100% shares24/02/2017

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 →
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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
Incorporated2015-02-24
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58110 — Book publishing

Registered office

42 Town Street
Sutton
Retford
DN22 8PT
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-11-30
Last made up to: 2026-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-10
Last: 2026-02-24

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

DARBYSHIRE, John Hamish Mcgregor→
director · ~42y · appointed 2015-02-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DARBYSHIRE, John Anthony Charles→
secretary · appointed 2015-02-24 · resigned 2022-10-09
Resigned
DARBYSHIRE, John Anthony Charles→
director · ~87y · appointed 2015-02-24 · resigned 2022-11-29
Resigned

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

Recent filings (26 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-15
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-03-15
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-24