AUTOGRAPH FINANCE LTD
💤Zombieactive
13578981 · ltd · incorporated 2021-08-23
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
£24.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of mortgage finance companies
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and acceptable with review structure.
Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -58% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
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, 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
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 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
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
60
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 declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £24,604
Cash draining
Cash down 58% YoY
Cash YoY
-58%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£5k
↓ 58% YoY
Net Worth
£25k
↑ 247% YoY
Current Assets
£105k
↑ 373% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-08-31 | 2024-08-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £26.3k | £7.6k |
| Current assets | £105.4k | £22.3k |
| Cash | £5.4k | £12.6k |
| Debtors | £13.8k | £9.7k |
| Net assets | £24.6k | £7.1k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 signals 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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-24📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2024-11-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-07📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2023-03-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-15📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2023-02-03➖ORR, Christopher Thomas resigneddirector
- 2022-12-16📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2022-04-05📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2022-04-01➕ORR, Christopher Thomas appointeddirector
- 2022-03-31📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2022-03-30📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2022-02-11✏️certificate-change-of-name-companychange-of-name · CERTNM
- 2022-01-26➕DUTTON, Carol appointedsecretary
- 2022-01-26📄appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP03
- 2022-01-26📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2021-08-23🏢Company incorporatedAs AUTOGRAPH FINANCE LTD
- 2021-08-23➕DUTTON, Philip Michael appointeddirector
- 2021-08-23📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
83/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 62 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
55/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
Red flags
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Philip Michael Dutton Individual · British · DOB 09/1964 · age 62 | 50–75% | 50–75% | 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting | 11/02/2022 |
Mrs Carol Dawn Dutton Individual · British · DOB 03/1963 · age 63 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 17/01/2025 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Phd Holdings Ltdceased 11/02/2022· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Financial services · WR postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A WAY WITH PROPERTY LIMITED→ 16127689 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ABBEVILLE PIERCE CAPITAL LTD→ 16825210 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADAM SMITH FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED→ 10803190 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AEGF 2 LTD→ 05893079 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| AJG ACTUARIAL LTD→ 10878661 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ALPHA BROKERS SERVICES LTD→ 16065770 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ALPHA COMMERCIAL BROKERS LTD→ 16811326 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ALTERNATIVE MASON INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ 13241941 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ANDREW DEY FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED→ 12278344 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ASTUTE WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD→ 06747603 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| BARCHESTER JAC LTD→ 15292075 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BE FINANCIAL LTD→ 16244293 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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.
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
Incorporated2021-08-23
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64922 — Activities of mortgage finance companies
Registered office
10 Hamilton Square Easy Row
Worcester
Worcestershire
WR1 3HL
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last: 2026-01-17
Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)
Active
DUTTON, Philip Michael→
Activedirector · ~62y · appointed 2021-08-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ORR, Christopher Thomas→
Resigneddirector · ~37y · appointed 2022-04-01 · resigned 2023-02-03
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
2026-01-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-24
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-11-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-01-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-19
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-03-14
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-19
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2022-12-16
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-04-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-31