ABS PAINTWORX LTD

💤Zombieactive
10338530 · ltd · incorporated 2016-08-19
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 Aug 2024
Net worth
£7.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 71/100 (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 (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
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 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
28 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £6,976
Cash YoY
-2%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£13k
↓ 1.7% YoY
Net Worth
£7k
↑ 31% YoY
Current Assets
£22k
↓ 8.1% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£5k£10k£15k£19k£24kAug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Total assets£7.0k£19.0k
Current assets£22.3k£24.3k
Cash£13.0k£13.2k
Debtors£9.4k£11.1k
Net assets£7.0k£5.3k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2024-03-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2024-03-27
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  6. 2024-03-27
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2023-08-25
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2023-08-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2023-04-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-08-18
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  12. 2021-06-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2020-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2020-08-24
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  15. 2020-06-07
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2020-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-08-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABS PAINTWORX LTD
  19. 2016-08-19
    STEELE, Jadine Louise appointed
    secretary
  20. 2016-08-19
    STEELE, Adam Blair 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 10 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
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.

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 Adam Blair Steele
Individual · British · DOB 09/1988 · age 38
75100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence19/08/2016

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
Incorporated2016-08-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Stanway House Almondsbury Business Centre
Woodlands
Bristol
BS32 4QH
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-01
Last: 2025-08-18

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

STEELE, Jadine Louise
secretary · appointed 2016-08-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STEELE, Adam Blair
director · ~38y · appointed 2016-08-19
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)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-31
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-03-27
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-03-27
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2024-03-27
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-25
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-08-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-20