WEBTICKETMANAGER LIMITED
Company number 08057750 · Monitor this company
This analysis was written by an AI from the company's public filings. It may contain errors or omissions and is not financial or professional advice.
Financial Health Assessment: Webticketmanager Limited
Companies House No. 08057750 | Software Development (SIC 62012, 62090)
1. Financial Health Score: F — Critical Condition
This company is not a patient walking into the clinic with symptoms — it has already been admitted to intensive care. The status reads "In Administration," meaning a licensed insolvency practitioner has been appointed because the company cannot pay its debts as they fall due. This is the formal, legal confirmation of financial failure. No grade above F is defensible when the patient is already under emergency care.
2. Key Vital Signs
| Vital Sign | Reading (FY Oct 2023) | Healthy Range | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash at bank | £0 | Positive and stable | Cardiac arrest — no cash circulating |
| Net assets | –£569,496 | Positive | Balance sheet insolvent |
| Working capital | –£577,156 | Positive | Severe short-term funding crisis |
| Current ratio | 0.25 (£189k assets / £766k liabilities) | 1.5 – 2.0 | Only 25p of assets per £1 of short-term debt |
| Shareholders' funds | –£569,496 | Positive | Negative equity — owners' stake wiped out |
| Estimated FY2023 loss | ~£277,000 | Profitable | Losses accelerating year-on-year |
| Trade creditors | £394,451 (up 43%) | Stable/declining | Suppliers being stretched — a distress symptom |
| Filing compliance | Accounts overdue | Current | Administered companies often fall behind; administrator now responsible |
Note: Figures are drawn from the filed balance sheet, which shows total liabilities of £984,955 (£766,492 due within one year plus £218,463 due after), against total assets of £415,459.
3. Symptoms Analysis: A Five-Year Decline
The financial history reads like a medical chart charting a slow, then sudden, deterioration:
| Year End | Net Assets | Cash | P&L Reserve | Implied Annual Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | +£3,156 | n/d | +£3,156 | ~£29k profit (brief remission) |
| 2020 | –£42,670 | £51,197 | –£142,680 | ~£146k loss |
| 2021 | –£113,051 | £93,216 | –£263,061 | ~£120k loss |
| 2022 | –£292,156 | £6,039 | –£442,166 | ~£179k loss |
| 2023 | –£569,496 | £0 | –£719,506 | ~£277k loss |
Symptoms observed:
- Chronic bleeding: Four consecutive years of losses totalling roughly £720,000, with each year worse than the last. This is not a one-off shock; it's a sustained underlying condition.
- Cash depletion: From £185,000 in 2018 to literally zero by 2023. The company bled out its reserves entirely.
- Organ strain: Trade creditors rose 43% and other creditors rose 83% in the final year — the company was surviving by delaying payments to suppliers, HMRC (£78,882 owed in tax and social security), and lenders.
- Unusual spending while ill: The company added £119,341 of plant & machinery in its final full year — an aggressive capital investment for a software business that was already balance-sheet insolvent. This may attract scrutiny.
- Headcount grew while losses grew: Employees rose from 4 to 7 even as losses accelerated — costs were climbing without corresponding revenue (the P&L was filleted from the public filing, so turnover is not visible, which itself limits diagnosis).
- Life support withdrawn: The October 2023 accounts (signed off in October 2024) were prepared on a going concern basis only because the directors pledged continued financial support. That support evidently failed to materialise — the company entered administration shortly afterwards. Director-support reliance is one of the weakest forms of life support a company can depend on.
4. Diagnosis
Terminal financial distress, formally confirmed by insolvency proceedings.
The company is balance-sheet insolvent by a wide margin (£569,496), has no cash, cannot meet £766,492 of obligations falling due within a year, and has demonstrated an inability to trade profitably for at least four years. The administration is not a precaution — it is the end-stage presentation of a chronic condition that was visible in the numbers since at least 2020.
The asset base offers limited comfort: £226,123 of fixed assets (net book value — realisable value in a distressed sale is typically far lower) and £189,336 of debtors, whose collectability in administration is always uncertain. Against roughly £985,000 of total liabilities, unsecured creditors are likely facing a substantial shortfall.
5. Prognosis
Very poor. Administration typically resolves in one of three ways:
- Sale of the business or assets (including a "pre-pack" sale) — the software/platform and customer contracts may hold value to a buyer, but the company itself rarely survives.
- Liquidation — the most likely outcome if no buyer emerges; assets are sold and the company is dissolved.
- Company Voluntary Arrangement — rare, and improbable given the depth of losses and zero cash.
Shareholders will almost certainly lose their entire investment, and the original ~£150,000 of equity funding (share capital plus premium) is gone. Recovery as an independent going concern would require an extraordinary intervention.
6. Recommendations
If you are a creditor (supplier, HMRC, lender): - Register your claim with the administrator promptly and attend/vote at creditors' meetings. - Monitor the administrator's progress reports (required at least every six months). - Do not extend further credit; treat any trading with this entity as high risk.
If you are a director: - Cooperate fully with the administrator and preserve all accounting records. - Be aware that administrators have a statutory duty to report on directors' conduct, and the timing of recent asset purchases and going concern assurances may be examined. Seeking independent legal advice promptly is prudent.
If you are a customer of the ticketing platform: - Plan for service discontinuity. Migrate to alternative providers and secure your data now rather than waiting for the outcome of the administration.
Broader lessons from this case (for other business owners): - Cash is the heartbeat. Profitability on paper means little if cash falls from £93k to zero in two years. Monitor cash weekly, not annually. - Going concern based on director promises is fragile life support. If solvency depends on continued shareholder funding, have binding commitments in place — not verbal assurances. - Intervene early. The 2020 accounts already showed the disease. Early restructuring (cost reduction, refinancing, or strategic sale) at that stage offers far more options than administration does at the end stage.