APPLE PLANNING AND DESIGN LTD

💤Zombieactive
13770783 · ltd · incorporated 2021-11-29
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 Nov 2024
Net worth
£996
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

What this business does
Primary activity: Architectural activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 68). 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 (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
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
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
16 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 · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £996

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£2k
Net Worth
£996
↑ 78% YoY
Current Assets
£13k
↑ 146% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£3k£5k£8k£10k£13kNov 2023Nov 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-11-302023-11-30
Total assets£996£1.1k
Current assets£13.0k£5.3k
Cash£1.9k
Debtors£11.2k
Net assets£996£559

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (14 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-05-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-22
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  5. 2022-12-02
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2022-12-01
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2022-12-01
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2022-12-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2022-11-17
    📄
    withdrawal-of-the-persons-with-significant-control-register-information-from-the-public-register
    persons-with-significant-control · EW04
  10. 2022-11-17
    📄
    withdrawal-of-the-directors-register-information-from-the-public-register
    officers · EW01
  11. 2022-06-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2021-11-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APPLE PLANNING AND DESIGN LTD
  13. 2021-11-29
    APPLEBY, Stephen Martin appointed
    director
  14. 2021-11-29
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

90/100
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 68 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • 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 Stephen Martin Appleby
Individual · British · DOB 11/1958 · age 68
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control29/11/2021

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · WR postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
ANDREW CATMUR ENGINEERS LIMITED
10322349 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
9y
ASSOCIATED ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES LIMITED
04718457 · est 2003 · no financials extracted
23y
ATLOA SERVICES LIMITED
09049238 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
11y
ATMOS BOOKKEEPING LTD
11954180 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
6y
ATTWOODS (LONDON) LIMITED
10661558 · est 2017 · no financials extracted
9y
ATTWOODS ACCOUNTANTS LIMITED
05505464 · est 2005 · no financials extracted
20y
ATTWOODS MANAGEMENT LIMITED
12602341 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
5y
ATWELL ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS LTD
10022645 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
10y
AURA NEWNS LIMITED
15002427 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
2y
AURORA MARKETING SOLUTIONS LIMITED
09804961 · est 2015 · no financials extracted
10y
AUTO-SLEEPERS HOLDINGS LIMITED
05493962 · est 2005 · no financials extracted
20y
AUTO-SLEEPERS INVESTMENTS LIMITED
06874019 · est 2009 · no financials extracted
17y
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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
Incorporated2021-11-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

19 Vine Mews Vine Street
Evesham
Worcestershire
WR11 4RE
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-22
Last: 2025-11-08

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

APPLEBY, Stephen Martin
director · ~68y · appointed 2021-11-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (16 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-15
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2023-02-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-05
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-12-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-12-01
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-12-01
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-12-01
withdrawal-of-the-persons-with-significant-control-register-information-from-the-public-register
persons-with-significant-control · EW04
2022-11-17
withdrawal-of-the-directors-register-information-from-the-public-register
officers · EW01
2022-11-17
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-06-01