1888 TRADING LTD

💤Zombieactive
12231787 · ltd · incorporated 2019-09-27
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 Sept 2024
Net worth
£36.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (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

1 live charge · oldest 2.3y

10/100
under pressure

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

  • · Newest facility, 2.3 years old — likely still in initial term.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 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
74/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £36,126
Net assets shrinking
Down £51,121 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£36k
↓ 59% YoY
Current Assets
£27k
↓ 64% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£17k£35k£52k£70k£87kSept 2023Sept 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-09-302023-09-30
Total assets£36.1k£87.2k
Current assets£26.5k£74.0k
Cash£1
Debtors£28.1k
Net assets£36.1k£87.2k

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
2
filings
  • 2 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 2 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (16 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-07
    SINCLAIR, George resigned
    director
  3. 2025-05-07
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2024-03-18
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  5. 2024-03-18
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  6. 2024-02-14
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  7. 2024-02-13
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Team Factors Limited
  8. 2024-01-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-04-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-05-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-08-18
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  13. 2020-01-05
    SINCLAIR, George appointed
    director
  14. 2019-09-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 1888 TRADING LTD
  15. 2019-09-27
    FRANKLIN, Samantha Jane appointed
    director
  16. 2019-09-27
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material 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 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Samantha Jane Franklin
Individual · British · DOB 01/1981 · age 45
sig. influencesignificant influence27/09/2019

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
Incorporated2019-09-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Sawyers Magdalen Laver
Harlow Rd
Ongar
CM5 0DR
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-06
Last: 2026-03-23

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

FRANKLIN, Samantha Jane
director · ~45y · appointed 2019-09-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SINCLAIR, George
director · ~50y · appointed 2020-01-05 · resigned 2025-05-07
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Team Factors
Team Factors Limited
A registered charge1 property13/02/202418/03/2024

Recent filings (18 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-25
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-05-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-11
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-03-18
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2024-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-01-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-10-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-06