ALPHA BETTER CLEANING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC270274 · ltd · incorporated 2004-07-05
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Jul 2024
Net worth
£1.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other building and industrial cleaning activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 14.2y

30/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 14.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
7 officers (1 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
69 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
80
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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,416
Net assets shrinking
Down £101,069 YoY
Cash YoY
+0%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£500
~ YoY
Net Worth
£1k
↓ 99% YoY
Current Assets
£223k
↓ 28% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£62k£124k£186k£248k£310kJul 2023Jul 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-07-312023-07-31
Total assets£131.9k£135.4k
Current assets£222.6k£309.7k
Cash£500£500
Debtors£221.6k£308.5k
Net assets£1.4k£102.5k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-12
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2024-06-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2024-05-21
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  5. 2024-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-04-25
    ➖
    DANSO, George resigned
    director
  7. 2023-07-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-11-30
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2022-08-17
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2022-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-06-30
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2021-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-03-11
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  16. 2019-03-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Hsbc UK Bank PLC
  17. 2018-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  19. 2015-08-01
    ➖
    HAYFRON, Lee Emmanuel Kweku resigned
    secretary
  20. 2012-02-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  21. 2006-01-01
    ➖
    WAN OMAR, Wan Zaidi resigned
    director
  22. 2005-01-12
    ➖
    HOUSTON, Michael James resigned
    director
  23. 2004-07-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ALPHA BETTER CLEANING LIMITED
  24. 2004-07-05
    ➕
    HAYFRON, Emmanuel Kweku Lee appointed
    director
  25. 2004-07-05
    ➕
    HAYFRON, Lee Emmanuel Kweku appointed
    secretary
  26. 2004-07-05
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2004-07-05
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 2004-07-05
    ➕
    DANSO, George appointed
    director
  29. 2004-07-05
    ➕
    HOUSTON, Michael James appointed
    director
  30. 2004-07-05
    ➕
    WAN OMAR, Wan Zaidi appointed
    director
  31. 2004-07-05
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  32. 2004-07-05
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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 George Danso
Individual · British · DOB 05/1966 · age 60
25–50%
—25-50% shares20/07/2016
Mr Emmanuel Kweku Lee Hayfron
Individual · British · DOB 06/1964 · age 62
25–50%
—25-50% shares20/07/2016

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
Incorporated2004-07-05
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC81229 — Other building and industrial cleaning activities

Registered office

Unit 3 Morris Park
37 Rosyth Road
Glasgow
G5 0YE
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-26
Last: 2025-06-12

Officers (1 active · 6 resigned)

HAYFRON, Emmanuel Kweku Lee→
director · ~60y · appointed 2004-07-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HAYFRON, Lee Emmanuel Kweku→
secretary · appointed 2004-07-05 · resigned 2015-08-01
Resigned
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-07-05 · resigned 2004-07-05
Resigned
DANSO, George→
director · ~62y · appointed 2004-07-05 · resigned 2024-04-25
Resigned
HOUSTON, Michael James→
director · ~60y · appointed 2004-07-05 · resigned 2005-01-12
Resigned
WAN OMAR, Wan Zaidi→
director · ~65y · appointed 2004-07-05 · resigned 2006-01-01
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-07-05 · resigned 2004-07-05
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc UK Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property04/03/2019—
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Floating charge1 property01/02/2012—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (69 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-12
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-06-12
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-06-12
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-05-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-24
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-11-30
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-30