COLENSO SCREEN SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
02171362 · ltd · incorporated 1987-09-30
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
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Agents specialised in the sale of other particular products
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 37.0y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 37.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
113 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
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 employees8800

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-12-04
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-12-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2025-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-04-13
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  7. 2024-04-13
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  8. 2023-04-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-01-06
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2020-01-06
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2019-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-01-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2013-03-31
    COLENSO, John Mark appointed
    secretary
  18. 2013-03-31
    COLENSO, John Bruce resigned
    secretary
  19. 2012-07-10
    COLENSO, Elizabeth Ann resigned
    secretary
  20. 2012-07-10
    COLENSO, John Bruce appointed
    secretary
  21. 2008-12-31
    COLENSO, Elizabeth Ann appointed
    secretary
  22. 2008-12-31
    COLENSO, Shirley Ann resigned
    secretary
  23. 2005-03-31
    COLENSO, Shirley Ann resigned
    director
  24. 2004-04-07
    COLENSO, John Bruce resigned
    director
  25. 1997-10-01
    COLENSO, John Mark appointed
    director
  26. 1996-03-25
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  27. 1989-07-14
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  28. 1987-09-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COLENSO SCREEN SERVICES LIMITED

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "COLENSO" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 39 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Mark Colenso
Individual · British · DOB 11/1974 · age 52
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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.

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
Incorporated1987-09-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46180 — Agents specialised in the sale of other particular products

Registered office

Units 1-3 Fairoak Court
Whitehouse Industrial Estate
Runcorn
Cheshire
WA7 3DX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-14
Last: 2025-12-31

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

COLENSO, John Mark
secretary · appointed 2013-03-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COLENSO, John Mark
director · ~52y · appointed 1997-10-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COLENSO, Elizabeth Ann
secretary · appointed 2008-12-31 · resigned 2012-07-10
Resigned
COLENSO, John Bruce
secretary · appointed 2012-07-10 · resigned 2013-03-31
Resigned
COLENSO, Shirley Ann
secretary · resigned 2008-12-31
Resigned
COLENSO, John Bruce
director · ~82y · resigned 2004-04-07
Resigned
COLENSO, Shirley Ann
director · ~78y · resigned 2005-03-31
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Charge over book debts1 property25/03/1996
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Mortgage debenture1 property14/07/198913/04/2024
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (113 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-13
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-12-04
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-23
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-13