ACCOUNTANTS DIRECT (ESSEX) LTD
💤Zombieactive
10937334 · ltd · incorporated 2017-08-30
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£484.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Accounting and auditing activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 72/100 (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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
31 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
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 102Positive net assets
Net assets £484,682
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£111k
Net Worth
£485k
Current Assets
£662k
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £484.7k | — |
| Current assets | £661.7k | — |
| Cash | £110.9k | — |
| Debtors | £550.8k | — |
| Net assets | £484.7k | — |
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
2
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-22📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2026-04-22📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2025-01-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-24📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2021-07-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-01-21📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2019-01-21📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2019-01-21📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2019-01-17📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2018-11-08📄members-register-information-on-withdrawal-from-the-public-registercapital · EW05RSS
- 2018-11-08📄withdrawal-of-the-members-register-information-from-the-public-registercapital · EW05
- 2018-05-30➖THOMPSON, Jamie resigneddirector
- 2018-05-17➕THOMPSON, Jamie appointeddirector
- 2017-08-30🏢Company incorporatedAs ACCOUNTANTS DIRECT (ESSEX) LTD
- 2017-08-30➕THOMPSON, David James appointeddirector
- 2017-08-30➕LA RONDE, David appointeddirector
- 2017-08-30➖LA RONDE, David resigneddirector
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
45/100
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.
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
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr David James Thompson Individual · British · DOB 07/1987 · age 39 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 30/08/2017 |
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
- David Thompsonceased 30/08/2017· 75-100% voting
- Mr David La Rondeceased 30/08/2017· 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 OAK SERVICES LIMITED→ 16586525 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1226 ACCOUNTING LTD→ 13695747 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| A A AND T (WM) LTD→ 14187764 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ABBOTT ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN LTD→ 15377648 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ABPC MEDICSOLUTIONS LTD→ 09988244 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| ACADEMY FOR BOARD EXCELLENCE LTD→ 13066681 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ACCESSABILITY TRAINING LTD→ 16847487 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ACCOUNTANT360.CO.UK LTD→ 12079915 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ACCOUNTICORN LIMITED→ 15537882 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ACCOUNTING FOR THE ARTS LIMITED→ 14307780 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ACCOUNTING SOLUTIONS (ANGLIA) LIMITED→ 04507799 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| ACCUMARK MANAGEMENT & ACCOUNTANCY LTD→ 16168004 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2017-08-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC69201 — Accounting and auditing activities
Registered office
Chalice House Bromley Road
Elmstead
Colchester
CO7 7BY
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-04
Last: 2026-01-21
Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)
THOMPSON, David James→
Activedirector · ~39y · appointed 2017-08-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
LA RONDE, David→
Resigneddirector · ~57y · appointed 2017-08-30 · resigned 2017-08-30
THOMPSON, Jamie→
Resigneddirector · ~37y · appointed 2018-05-17 · resigned 2018-05-30
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (31 total)
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2026-04-22
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-07
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-18