288 GROUP LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

02000413 · ltd · incorporated 1986-03-14

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

81/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (59/100)

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

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

14 officers (5 active, 14 linked, 12 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

11 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

164 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

81/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 1 accounts
• 1 capital

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 2 capital
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (43 events)Click to expand

2026-05-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-30
➕
ALLEN, Katharine appointed
director
2026-04-30
➖
OWEN, Peter Daniel resigned
director
2026-04-30
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-04-30
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-04-08
📄
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2026-02-25
📄
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2026-02-22
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-04-14
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-04-14
📄
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2025-04-11
📄
capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-shares
capital · SH10
2025-04-07
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-01-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-27
📄
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2024-11-29
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-11-12
📄
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2024-01-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-10
➖
MACKENZIE, Lucy resigned
director
2023-05-10
➖
PARKES, Robin resigned
director
2023-05-10
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-05-10
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-05-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-13
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-03-10
➕
ALLEN, Max appointed
director
2023-03-10
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-12-15
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-12-14
➖
ELLWOOD, Rupert James resigned
director
2022-05-03
➕
ELLWOOD, Rupert James appointed
director
2021-05-07
➖
CAMPBELL, Alexander resigned
director
2019-07-05
➕
CAMPBELL, Alexander appointed
director
2019-07-05
➕
MACKENZIE, Lucy appointed
director
2019-07-05
➕
PARKES, Robin appointed
director
2019-07-05
➖
ROBINSON, Peter John resigned
director
2012-03-26
➖
LEAVESLEY, Jason Mark resigned
director
2010-04-30
➖
WALLACE, Alan Wesley resigned
director
2008-09-09
➕
ROBINSON, Peter John appointed
director
2007-10-03
➕
WALLACE, Alan Wesley appointed
director
2005-08-18
➕
LEAVESLEY, Jason Mark appointed
director
2004-05-01
➕
OWEN, Peter Daniel appointed
director
1998-06-30
➕
OWEN, Peter Daniel appointed
secretary
1998-06-30
➕
GLEN, Ian appointed
director
1998-06-30
➖
CLABON, Maryanne May resigned
secretary
1986-03-14
🏢
Company incorporated
As 288 GROUP LIMITED

Owner dependency

73/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS

-4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

30/100

Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

SIGNALS

primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — ALLEN, Katharine (same surname) appointed 2026-04-30. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Stephen Richard Allen Individual · British · DOB 10/1959 · age 67	—	25–50%	board control25-50% voting · board control	31/12/2016

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 →

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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.

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🔒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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1986-03-14

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC47910 — Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet

Registered office

Russell House

Oxford Road

Bournemouth

BH8 8EX

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-01

Last: 2025-10-18