ASTBURY FOODS (UK) LTD

💤Zombieactive
11550531 · ltd · incorporated 2018-09-04
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
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Turnover
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£147.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46170
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 76/100 (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 (73/100).

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
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
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
18 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £147,764

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£148k
↑ 125% YoY
Current Assets
£71k
↑ 85% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£30k£59k£89k£118k£148kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-052024-04-05
Total assets£161.1k£119.9k
Current assets£70.7k£38.2k
Net assets£147.8k£65.7k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (13 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-03-27
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  9. 2019-03-22
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  10. 2018-09-28
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2018-09-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASTBURY FOODS (UK) LTD
  12. 2018-09-04
    BOWYER, Nicholas John appointed
    director
  13. 2018-09-04
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

88/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 8 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
  • 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 Nicholas John Bowyer
Individual · British · DOB 07/1968 · age 58
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control04/09/2018

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2018-09-04
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46170 — SIC 46170

Registered office

Unit 1 Pendle Place
West Pimbo
Skelmersdale
Lancashire
WN8 9PN
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-05
Last made up to: 2025-04-05
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-17
Last: 2025-09-03

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

BOWYER, Nicholas John
director · ~58y · appointed 2018-09-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (18 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-09
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2019-03-27