JOHN ABERNETHY BUILDERS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC501101 · ltd · incorporated 2015-03-20
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£148
book net assets
Opportunity
64/100
Worth a look
🔔
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: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed trade-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 64/100 (worth a look), bankability 65/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 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
64/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £148
Net assets shrinking
Down £445 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£148
↓ 75% YoY
Current Assets
£4k
↓ 12% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£864£2k£3k£3k£4kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£148£593
Current assets£3.8k£4.3k
Net assets£148£593

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 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (15 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-04-05
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-03-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JOHN ABERNETHY BUILDERS LTD
  13. 2015-03-20
    ABERNETHY, Jacqueline appointed
    secretary
  14. 2015-03-20
    ABERNETHY, John Andrew appointed
    director
  15. 2015-03-20
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "ABERNETHY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some 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

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-04-03

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
John Andrew Abernethy
Individual · British · DOB 02/1974 · age 52
5075%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Jacqueline Abernethy
Individual · British · DOB 12/1970 · age 56
2550%
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 · Trade services · ZE postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
ESE SHETLAND LTD
SC603760 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
7y
G4 (SHETLAND) LTD
SC699941 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
4y
HAGDALE (SHETLAND) LTD
SC792555 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
2y
I S POLSON LIMITED
SC371341 · est 2010 · no financials extracted
16y
J G I LTD
SC599030 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
7y
MARKET CROSS MUSIC LTD
SC555686 · est 2017 · no financials extracted
9y
NIKKI 7 LTD
SC401202 · est 2011 · no financials extracted
14y
NORTH ISLES ENERGY LTD
SC606057 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
7y
PMJ SERVICES (SHETLAND) LTD
SC477425 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
11y
SBSL LTD
SC585810 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
8y
SHARON ADELLE POWELL LIMITED
SC468938 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
12y
SHELHOPKINSFITNESS LTD
SC713285 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
4y
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
Incorporated2015-03-20
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Verdahill Twatt
Bixter
Shetland
ZE2 9LX
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-03OVERDUE
Last: 2025-03-20

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

ABERNETHY, Jacqueline
secretary · appointed 2015-03-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ABERNETHY, John Andrew
director · ~52y · appointed 2015-03-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (21 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-31