ASHTON AND FINCH LTD

💤Zombieactive
09627753 · ltd · incorporated 2015-06-08
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
£2.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
69/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed retail with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 69/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
36 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
69/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £2,806

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£3k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£32k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£6k£13k£19k£25k£32kJun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Total assets£16.4k£16.4k
Current assets£31.6k£31.6k
Net assets£2.8k£2.8k

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
2
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-01
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  2. 2026-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-11-11
    📄
    dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
    dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
  4. 2025-10-21
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  5. 2025-04-01
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  6. 2025-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-09-13
    📄
    dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
    dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
  8. 2024-08-27
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  9. 2024-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2023-08-30
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  11. 2023-08-29
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  12. 2023-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2022-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2021-10-21
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  15. 2021-09-08
    📄
    dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
    dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
  16. 2021-08-31
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  17. 2021-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  18. 2020-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2019-06-21
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  20. 2019-06-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  21. 2015-06-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASHTON AND FINCH LTD
  22. 2015-06-08
    FINCH, Catherine Luann appointed
    secretary
  23. 2015-06-08
    FINCH, Richard appointed
    director

Owner dependency

100/100
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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "FINCH" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

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

Evidence: Next due: 2024-06-22

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Richard Finch
Individual · British · DOB 01/1967 · age 59
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control18/03/2019
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Catherine Luann Finchceased 21/06/2019· 25-50% shares

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

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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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2015-06-08
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47910 — Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet

Registered office

38 Lyon Avenue
Market Weighton
York
YO43 3GP
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2024-06-22OVERDUE
Last: 2023-06-08

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

FINCH, Catherine Luann
secretary · appointed 2015-06-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FINCH, Richard
director · ~59y · appointed 2015-06-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (36 total)

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2026-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-03-31
dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2025-11-11
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-10-21
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-03-31
dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2024-09-13
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-29
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-08-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-03-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-06-29