A HAPPIER YEAR LTD
💤Zombieactive
14225050 · ltd · incorporated 2022-07-11
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
£-71.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Motion picture production activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 71/100 (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: 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 (78/100)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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 5 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
24 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
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredNegative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £71,419
Cash YoY
+0%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£1k
~ YoY
Net Worth
-£71k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£2k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-8.7k | £-8.7k |
| Current assets | £1.7k | £1.7k |
| Cash | £1.3k | £1.3k |
| Debtors | £474 | £474 |
| Net assets | £-71.4k | £-71.4k |
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
6
filings
- • 3 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
6
filings
- • 3 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (30 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2026-04-17📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC02
- 2026-04-15📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2026-03-19📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2026-03-19📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-07-22📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2025-07-16📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2025-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-10📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2023-01-09➖HAMILTON, Sarah resigneddirector
- 2022-11-22📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-11-22📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2022-11-21➕MANNING, Christopher Seaton appointeddirector
- 2022-09-06📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2022-08-30➖BRETT, Michael John resigneddirector
- 2022-08-30➖ELLISON, Jo resigneddirector
- 2022-08-30➖JAMISON, Steven Oliver resigneddirector
- 2022-08-30📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2022-08-30📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2022-08-30📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2022-08-30📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2022-08-30📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2022-08-30📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2022-07-11🏢Company incorporatedAs A HAPPIER YEAR LTD
- 2022-07-11➕BRETT, Michael John appointeddirector
- 2022-07-11➕ELLISON, Jo appointeddirector
- 2022-07-11➕HAMILTON, Sarah appointeddirector
- 2022-07-11➕JAMISON, Steven Oliver appointeddirector
- 2022-07-11📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial 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 signalSome 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Group structure
Ex Officina Limited holds 25-50% — a significant corporate investor but not a controlling parent.
🏛️significant stake
Ex Officina Limited
Corporate parent · holds 25-50% shares
⬇
A HAPPIER YEAR LTD
This company · 14225050
Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).
Shareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ex Officina Limited Corporate entity | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 16/03/2026 |
3 historic (ceased) PSCs
- Mr Christopher Seaton Manningceased 15/04/2026· significant influence
- Hamilton's Picturesceased 09/11/2022· significant influence
- Archer's Mark Studios Ltdceased 30/08/2022· significant influence
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADAM LOCK LIMITED→ 14611193 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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| ADVANCE COMPUTER SERVICES LIMITED→ 02767540 · est 1992 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 33y | — | — |
| ADVANCED COMPLIANCE TECHNOLOGY, LTD→ 15443018 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ADVANCED SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL (EUROPE) LIMITED→ 05042925 · est 2004 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| ADVENTFS, LTD→ 16044269 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ADVENTRIO LTD→ 15057734 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ADVERT AREA LIMITED→ 08842046 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| AEGIS DATA SOLUTIONS LTD→ 14960299 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2022-07-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC59111 — Motion picture production activities
Registered office
Asm House
103a Keymer Road
Hassocks
West Sussex
BN6 8QL
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-02
Last: 2026-03-19
Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)
MANNING, Christopher Seaton→
Activedirector · ~45y · appointed 2022-11-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BRETT, Michael John→
Resigneddirector · ~45y · appointed 2022-07-11 · resigned 2022-08-30
ELLISON, Jo→
Resigneddirector · ~46y · appointed 2022-07-11 · resigned 2022-08-30
HAMILTON, Sarah→
Resigneddirector · ~52y · appointed 2022-07-11 · resigned 2023-01-09
JAMISON, Steven Oliver→
Resigneddirector · ~46y · appointed 2022-07-11 · resigned 2022-08-30
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (24 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-30
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2026-04-17
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-04-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-21
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-03-19
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-11
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-07-22
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-07-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-25
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-01-10
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-11-22