ARA SANDWICH LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
10651329 · ltd · incorporated 2017-03-03
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Unlicenced restaurants and cafes
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 9.1y

30/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 9.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
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
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
28 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
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · IFRS
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees00

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-06
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  2. 2025-05-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-05-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-05-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-10-10
    📄
    dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
    dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
  6. 2023-09-12
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  7. 2023-08-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2022-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-11-21
    📍
    default-companies-house-registered-office-address-applied
    address · RP05
  10. 2022-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-12-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2020-11-26
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  13. 2020-11-26
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  14. 2020-10-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-12-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-09-12
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  18. 2017-09-05
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Red Primrose Limited
  19. 2017-07-26
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  20. 2017-07-08
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  21. 2017-06-07
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  22. 2017-03-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARA SANDWICH LIMITED
  23. 2017-03-03
    AHMED, Hasan 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 9 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 Hasan Ahmed
Individual · British · DOB 10/1978 · age 48
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · trust interest · firm interest03/03/2017

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 →
🔒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
Incorporated2017-03-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56102 — Unlicenced restaurants and cafes

Registered office

7 Bell Yard
London
WC2A 2JR
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-08
Last: 2025-06-24

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

AHMED, Hasan
director · ~48y · appointed 2017-03-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Red Primrose
Red Primrose Limited
A registered charge1 property05/09/201726/11/2020
satisfied
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property07/06/201708/07/2017

Recent filings (28 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-07
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-05-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-05
dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2023-10-10
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-09-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-08-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-30
default-companies-house-registered-office-address-applied
address · RP05
2022-11-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-24