ABC BUSINESS TRADING LTD

💤Zombieactive
10360682 · ltd · incorporated 2016-09-06
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 38110
Sector: Water supply & waste
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 38210SIC 38210
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. 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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 6.2y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 6.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile
address, 2 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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
24 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Sept 2024Sept 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-09-302024-09-30
Average employees7700

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 mortgage
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-12-29
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  3. 2025-12-29
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  4. 2025-05-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-05-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-06-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-09-18
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  9. 2021-09-18
    📄
    withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
  10. 2021-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-02-05
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  12. 2020-01-23
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  13. 2020-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-02-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-09-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABC BUSINESS TRADING LTD
  17. 2016-09-06
    CHEN, Xiongsheng appointed
    director
  18. 2016-09-06
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

80/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 10 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

clean
No 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Xiongsheng Chen
Individual · British · DOB 09/1981 · age 45
75100%
75-100% shares18/09/2021

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 →

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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
Incorporated2016-09-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC38110 — SIC 38110

Registered office

30 Wentworth Way
Harborne
Birmingham
B32 2UZ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-02
Last: 2025-09-18

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CHEN, Xiongsheng
director · ~45y · appointed 2016-09-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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
TypeProperties
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
A registered charge23/01/202029/12/2025

Recent filings (24 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-14
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2025-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-18
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2021-09-18
withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
2021-09-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-22