ACADEMIC PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT LTD.

💤Zombieactive
10524950 · ltd · incorporated 2016-12-14
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
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 79). 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 (58/100)

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
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
23 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

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 (16 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-05-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-05-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-03-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2021-04-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-06-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-05-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  12. 2017-11-13
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2017-03-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2016-12-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACADEMIC PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT LTD.
  15. 2016-12-14
    ➕
    MILLER, David appointed
    director
  16. 2016-12-14
    📄
    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 79 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 9 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
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 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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 David Miller
Individual · British · DOB 03/1947 · age 79
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting14/12/2016

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

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
Incorporated2016-12-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

The Old Hall Cottage
Harberton
Totnes
Devon
TQ9 7SQ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-27
Last: 2025-12-13

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

MILLER, David→
director · ~79y · appointed 2016-12-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (23 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-06
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-13