AB ACCESS SOLUTIONS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC353334 · ltd · incorporated 2009-01-12
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 Jul 2022
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
57/100
Worth a look
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 33190
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed admin-neglect survivor — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 57/100 (worth a look), bankability 45/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (38/100). Current lenders should be on monthly review.

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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
50 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
57/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
45
Concerning — overdue filings or status flags present.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
49
Multiple red flags — proceed with caution.
Signal strength
90
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£0Jan 2022Jul 2022

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2022-07-072022-01-11
Average employees200200

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
4
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 officers
Last 180 days
4
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-28
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  2. 2026-02-25
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  3. 2026-02-25
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  4. 2024-05-14
    📄
    dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
    dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
  5. 2024-04-02
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  6. 2023-02-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-12-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-11-08
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  9. 2022-11-03
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  10. 2021-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-01-01
    BARTON, Sandra Carol resigned
    director
  12. 2020-04-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-01-28
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2019-08-27
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2019-08-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  16. 2019-08-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  17. 2019-07-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2018-04-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2018-01-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  20. 2012-04-01
    BARTON, Sandra Carol appointed
    director
  21. 2012-03-31
    BARTON, Sandra resigned
    secretary
  22. 2009-01-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AB ACCESS SOLUTIONS LTD
  23. 2009-01-12
    BARTON, Anthony appointed
    director
  24. 2009-01-12
    BARTON, Sandra appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

85/100
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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

63/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

2 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2024-04-07

Confirmation statement overdue
high

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

Evidence: Next due: 2025-01-26

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Anthony Barton
Individual · British · DOB 05/1983 · age 43
2550%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Sandra Bartonceased 01/01/2021· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control

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

10 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
Incorporated2009-01-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC33190 — SIC 33190

Registered office

12 Liberton Drive
Edinburgh
EH16 6NN
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2024-04-07OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2022-07-07
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2025-01-26OVERDUE
Last: 2024-01-12

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

BARTON, Anthony
director · ~43y · appointed 2009-01-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BARTON, Sandra
secretary · appointed 2009-01-12 · resigned 2012-03-31
Resigned
BARTON, Sandra Carol
director · ~72y · appointed 2012-04-01 · resigned 2021-01-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (50 total)

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2026-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-26
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-25
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-02-25
dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2024-05-14
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-04-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-10
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2022-11-08
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2022-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-07