4FAB LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
05577782 · ltd · incorporated 2005-09-29
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 25990
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). 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
1 live charge · oldest 19.6y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 19.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
51 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.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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 (26 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-02-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-05-04📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2017-05-04🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2016-12-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-10-27📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2016-10-27📄elect-to-keep-the-directors-residential-address-register-information-on-the-public-registerofficers · EH02
- 2016-05-13📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2016-05-13📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2008-09-28➖STEELS, Fiona resigneddirector
- 2008-09-28➖STEELS, Peter Charles resigneddirector
- 2008-04-25➖SHARLAND, Tracey Leigh resigneddirector
- 2006-09-06🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Close Invoice Finance Limited
- 2005-09-29🏢Company incorporatedAs 4FAB LIMITED
- 2005-09-29➕PEEBLES BROWN, Ralph Adair appointedsecretary
- 2005-09-29➕PEEBLES BROWN, Ralph Adair appointeddirector
- 2005-09-29➕SHARLAND, Tracey Leigh appointeddirector
- 2005-09-29➕STEELS, Fiona appointeddirector
- 2005-09-29➕STEELS, Peter Charles appointeddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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
cleanNo 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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Ralph Adair Peebles Brown Individual · British · DOB 07/1959 · age 67 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 28/09/2016 |
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 · Manufacturing · BS postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 DELTA ENGINEERING EC LIMITED→ 02903909 · est 1994 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 32y | — | — |
| 20/20 FITNESS SERVICES LIMITED→ 10103046 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| 2601 CREATIVE PRINT LTD→ 08960428 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| 27 WEB MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 11317325 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| 28 TECHNOLOGY LIMITED→ 07455186 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| 299 LIGHTING LIMITED→ 06927908 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| 2HGEN LIMITED→ 13553162 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| 2XGL LTD→ 11820372 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| 3DPRINTSHED LTD→ 13181658 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| 4 CONCRETE LTD→ 10328865 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| 4L (UK) LTD→ 08533768 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| A.B.C. (ENAMELLING & FABRICATIONS) LIMITED→ 01291149 · est 1976 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 49y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2005-09-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25990 — SIC 25990
Registered office
Charles House
The Lippiatt
Cheddar
Somerset
BS27 3QP
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-13
Last: 2025-09-29
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
PEEBLES BROWN, Ralph Adair→
Activesecretary · appointed 2005-09-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
PEEBLES BROWN, Ralph Adair→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2005-09-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SHARLAND, Tracey Leigh→
Resigneddirector · ~63y · appointed 2005-09-29 · resigned 2008-04-25
STEELS, Fiona→
Resigneddirector · ~57y · appointed 2005-09-29 · resigned 2008-09-28
STEELS, Peter Charles→
Resigneddirector · ~84y · appointed 2005-09-29 · resigned 2008-09-28
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Close Invoice Finance Close Invoice Finance Limited | Debenture | 1 property | 06/09/2006 | 04/05/2017 |
Recent filings (51 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-11-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-12-13