CEFA-SOFT LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
NI016111 · ltd · incorporated 1982-09-28
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 28.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Sept 2024
Net worth
£206.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
83/100
Exceptional
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Business and domestic software development
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 28.9y

65/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 28.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (4 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
121 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
83/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
85
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £206,665
Net assets shrinking
Down £26,736 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£163k
Net Worth
£207k
↓ 11% YoY
Current Assets
£271k
↑ 2.3% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£54k£108k£163k£217k£271kSept 2023Sept 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-09-302023-09-30
Total assets£206.7k£236.7k
Current assets£270.8k£264.7k
Cash£163.3k—
Debtors£107.3k—
Net assets£206.7k£233.4k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-03-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2022-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-05-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2021-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-09-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-06-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-01-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-01-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2006-10-01
    ➕
    MONTGOMERY, Roy appointed
    director
  17. 1997-07-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Northern Bank LTD
  18. 1997-07-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Northern Bank LTD
  19. 1982-09-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CEFA-SOFT LIMITED
  20. 1982-09-28
    ➕
    WALSH, Mary appointed
    secretary
  21. 1982-09-28
    ➕
    WALSH, Joseph Bernard appointed
    director
  22. 1982-09-28
    ➕
    WALSH, Mary appointed
    director

Owner dependency

76/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 44 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 44 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 44 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Joseph Bernard Walsh
Individual · British · DOB 12/1963 · age 63
—25–50%25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Mary Brigid Walsh
Individual · Irish · DOB 10/1962 · age 64
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Technology · BT postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
WELLINGTON COMPUTER SYSTEMS LIMITED→
NI016424 · est 1983
£21.35M
£15.25M–£27.46M
£10.31M—580043y8462y
BARCLAY DIGITAL SERVICES LTD→
NI624500 · est 2014
£18.34M
£13.10M–£23.57M
——7412y8359y
CATALYSTPAY LIMITED→
NI664786 · est 2019
———06y8741y
ALMAC CLINICAL TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED→
NI061202 · est 2006 · no financials extracted
————19y8368y
BEHOLD THE LAMB LTD→
NI604077 · est 2010
——£185.1k—15y8365y
BIG MOUNTAIN PRODUCTIONS LIMITED→
NI053459 · est 2005
———30021y8363y
BIZTECH SOFTWARE (NI) LTD→
NI064868 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
————19y8362y
CLARITY TELECOM LIMITED→
NI038966 · est 2000 · no financials extracted
————25y8365y
CONDUIX LTD→
NI071506 · est 2009 · no financials extracted
————17y8361y
GCD TECHNOLOGIES LTD→
NI064747 · est 2007
———-550018y8379y
ZAISANG LTD→
NI660506 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
————7y——
ZAVANNA MANAGEMENT LIMITED→
NI616539 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
————13y——
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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
Incorporated1982-09-28
Jurisdictionnorthern-ireland
Primary SIC62012 — Business and domestic software development

Registered office

176 Upper Newtownards Road
Belfast
BT4 3ES
Northern Ireland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-14
Last: 2025-12-31

Officers (4 active · 0 resigned)

WALSH, Mary→
secretary · appointed 1982-09-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MONTGOMERY, Roy→
director · ~55y · appointed 2006-10-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WALSH, Joseph Bernard→
director · ~63y · appointed 1982-09-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WALSH, Mary→
director · ~64y · appointed 1982-09-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Northern Bank
Northern Bank LTD
Mortgage or charge1 property03/07/1997—
outstanding
Northern Bank
Northern Bank LTD
Mortgage or charge1 property03/07/1997—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (121 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-26
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-03-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-05-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-08