CHEF LUKE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
11071412 · ltd · incorporated 2017-11-20
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 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
61/100
Worth a look
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10821
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 56101Licenced restaurants
  • 56210Event catering activities
  • 56302Public houses and bars
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 61/100 (worth a look), bankability 55/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (38/100).

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, 4 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
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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
28 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
61/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
50
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
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 2023Mar 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-03-312023-03-31
Average employees300200

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
1
filing
  • 1 gazette
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 gazette
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-26
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  2. 2025-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-27
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  4. 2023-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-06-27
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2023-06-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2023-06-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2023-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-11-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-01-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-09-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-09-12
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2019-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-03-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2019-02-21
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  17. 2018-11-20
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  18. 2018-11-20
    📍
    move-registers-to-sail-company-with-new-address
    address · AD03
  19. 2017-11-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CHEF LUKE LIMITED
  20. 2017-11-20
    CLIFFORD, Luke Richard 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

1 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-03-31

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Luke Richard Clifford
Individual · English · DOB 12/1989 · age 37
sig. influencesignificant influence20/11/2017

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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
Incorporated2017-11-20
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC10821 — SIC 10821

Registered office

21 Fiona Way
Bedford
MK41 0FD
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-03-31OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2024-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-03
Last: 2025-11-19

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CLIFFORD, Luke Richard
director · ~37y · appointed 2017-11-20
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)

gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2026-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-29
change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2023-12-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-22
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-06-27
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-06-27
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-01