ACADEMY 4 LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
10011258 · ltd · incorporated 2016-02-17
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 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other education n.e.c.
Sector: Education
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 73/100 (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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (74/100)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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
9 connected companies via shared directors
72
Filing history
27 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
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
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-02-28 |
|---|
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2026-03-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2025-10-13📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-10-13📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-10-13📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-10-13📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2025-10-13📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-09-30📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-05-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-02-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-11-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-02-17🏢Company incorporatedAs ACADEMY 4 LIMITED
- 2016-02-17➕SCOTT, Darren Hugh Curtis appointeddirector
Owner dependency
80/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 10 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
50/100
Moderate signalSome 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Darren Hugh Curtis Scott Individual · British · DOB 05/1983 · age 43 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mr James Pennington Individual · British · DOB 11/1980 · age 46 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Education & training · M postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABT COACHING LTD→ 15261741 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ABUNDANCE LEARNING LTD→ 12621602 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ACCESS EDUCATION NETWORK LTD→ 16621774 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ACHIEVABLE EDUCATION LTD→ 14597636 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ACROSS THE GLOBAL LIMITED→ 13944639 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ACTIONGX LTD→ 10302543 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ACTIVATE EDUCATION LIMITED→ 11127290 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ADB EDUCATION UK LTD→ 15771631 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ADELE CATHERINE EDUCATION LIMITED→ 16240095 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ADELE CATHERINE GLOBAL LIMITED→ 16950153 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADEPT EXECUTIVE CONSULTING LTD→ 10288942 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ADI NETWORK LIMITED→ 15163535 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2016-02-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC85590 — Other education n.e.c.
Registered office
12 Penelope Road
Salford
Greater Manchester
M6 7GH
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-11-30
Last made up to: 2026-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last: 2026-02-14
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
SCOTT, Darren Hugh Curtis→
Activedirector · ~43y · appointed 2016-02-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (27 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-13
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-13
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-13
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-10-13
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-10-13
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-09-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-06-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-07-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-06-22