AB11 TRADING COMPANY LTD
💤Zombieactive
SC524179 · ltd · incorporated 2016-01-13
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£28.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale of musical instruments and scores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 70). 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).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (78/100)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
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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
22 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £27,983
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£28k
↑ 22% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-01-31 | 2024-01-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £5.0k | £1.8k |
| Current assets | — | £6.7k |
| Net assets | £28.0k | £23.0k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (14 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-10-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-10-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-08📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-10-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-10-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-06-06📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2016-01-13🏢Company incorporatedAs AB11 TRADING COMPANY LTD
- 2016-01-13➕CLARK, Jonathan appointeddirector
- 2016-01-13📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
95/100
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.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 10 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
80/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- 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 Jonathan Clark Individual · Scottish · DOB 11/1956 · age 70 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Retail · AB postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATHLETE LIMITED→ SC590022 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AURORA BIKE COMPS LIMITED→ SC852585 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BAST CRYSTALS LTD→ SC736537 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BELLGRAY LTD→ SC840098 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BELTIE ENTERPRISES LTD→ SC756290 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BEN DURACK DESIGN LTD→ SC686885 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| BEST UK STORE LTD→ SC875874 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BIZZWHIZ LIMITED→ SC824246 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BLUE TOON THE SUN FACTORY LTD→ SC728883 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| BROADFOLD BUSINESS GIFTS LIMITED→ SC248274 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| BRODIE COUNTRYFARE LIMITED→ SC146184 · est 1993 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 32y | — | — |
| BRYKZ LTD→ SC799886 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2016-01-13
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47591 — Retail sale of musical instruments and scores
Registered office
120 Crown Street
Aberdeen
AB11 6HJ
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-26
Last: 2026-01-12
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
CLARK, Jonathan→
Activedirector · ~70y · appointed 2016-01-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (22 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-11
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-27
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-01-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-30