DEBENFIELD LTD

💤Zombieactive
12467754 · ltd · incorporated 2020-02-17
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-life insurance
Sector: Financial & insurance
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 66220Activities of insurance agents and brokers
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 71/100 (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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 2 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
22 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
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£2k£3k£5k£6k£8kFeb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-02-282024-02-29
Total assets£3.4k
Current assets£7.8k
Net assets£3.4k
Average employees1

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 officers
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-02
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  2. 2025-11-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-05-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-08-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2023-08-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2023-02-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2023-02-13
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2022-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-10-25
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  12. 2022-10-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2022-10-25
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  14. 2022-07-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2021-11-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  16. 2020-02-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DEBENFIELD LTD
  17. 2020-02-17
    LINFIELD, Martin appointed
    secretary
  18. 2020-02-17
    LINFIELD, Martin appointed
    director
  19. 2020-02-17
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 6 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

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 Martin Linfield
Individual · British · DOB 07/1972 · age 54
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control17/02/2020

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

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
Incorporated2020-02-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC65120 — Non-life insurance

Registered office

820 The Crescent
Colchester Business Park
Colchester
Essex
CO4 9YQ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-02
Last: 2026-02-16

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

LINFIELD, Martin
secretary · appointed 2020-02-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LINFIELD, Martin
director · ~54y · appointed 2020-02-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (22 total)

change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-03-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-11-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-05-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-08-03
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-08-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-02-13
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-02-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-10-25