ACTIVE DEFENCE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
11291850 · ltd · incorporated 2018-04-04
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
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of patent and copyright agents; other legal activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 70). 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 (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
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
21 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£3k£5k£8k£10k£13kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-302024-03-30
Total assets—£14
Current assets—£12.6k
Net assets—£14
Average employees100—

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (15 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-25
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2023-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-03-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-02-29
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  9. 2020-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-02-25
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  11. 2019-04-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-04-10
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  13. 2018-04-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACTIVE DEFENCE LIMITED
  14. 2018-04-04
    ➕
    HOWE, Heather appointed
    director
  15. 2018-04-04
    📄
    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 70 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 8 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 70 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
Ms Heather Howe
Individual · British · DOB 01/1956 · age 70
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control04/04/2018

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

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.

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2018-04-04
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC69109 — Activities of patent and copyright agents; other legal activities

Registered office

The Millstone Wood Lane
Woodcote
Reading
RG8 0PU
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-30
Last made up to: 2025-03-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-15
Last: 2026-04-01

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

HOWE, Heather→
director · ~70y · appointed 2018-04-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (21 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-05
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-03-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-15
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2020-02-29