MARTIN BENCHER (UK) LIMITED
⚰️Wound downdissolved
02620156 · ltd · incorporated 1991-06-13
Investment thesis
Company dissolved — not a live target.
Why interesting: Historical record only; useful for precedent research.
Why risky: Not transactable.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 34.6y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
64/100
Worth a look
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 7499
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed unclear — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 64/100 (worth a look), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (88/100, director aged 80). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Company dissolved. Company has been dissolved — it no longer legally exists. Any diligence here is historical only. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 34.6y
70/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 34.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 20/100 — clean.
Data confidence
Overall: low (53/100)Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.
Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
15 officers (3 active, 15 linked, 11 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
15 connected companies via shared directors
90
Filing history
104 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
64/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.
Business quality
30
Concerning — overdue filings or status flags present.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (54 events)Click to expand
- 2011-03-29📄gazette-dissolved-voluntarygazette · GAZ2(A)
- 2011-03-29🏁Company dissolved
- 2010-12-14📄gazette-notice-voluntarygazette · GAZ1(A)
- 2010-12-06📄dissolution-application-strike-off-companydissolution · DS01
- 2010-10-01📄appoint-person-director-company-with-nameofficers · AP01
- 2010-09-27➕TAYLOR, Anthony Christopher appointeddirector
- 2010-06-10📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2010-06-09📄change-corporate-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH02
- 2010-06-09📄change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH04
- 2010-06-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2009-07-21📄legacyannual-return · 363a
- 2009-05-14📄accounts-with-made-up-dateaccounts · AA
- 2008-07-21📄legacyannual-return · 363s
- 2008-05-13📄accounts-with-made-up-dateaccounts · AA
- 2007-06-28📄legacyannual-return · 363s
- 2007-06-03📄accounts-with-made-up-dateaccounts · AA
- 2006-06-21📄legacyannual-return · 363s
- 2006-05-11📄accounts-with-made-up-dateaccounts · AA
- 2005-06-17📄accounts-with-made-up-dateaccounts · AA
- 2005-06-14📄legacyannual-return · 363s
- 2004-09-08📄accounts-with-made-up-dateaccounts · AA
- 2004-06-25📄legacyannual-return · 363s
- 2003-07-15📄accounts-with-made-up-dateaccounts · AA
- 2003-06-20📄legacyannual-return · 363s
- 2003-06-20📄legacyannual-return · 363(288)
- 2002-12-18📍legacyaddress · 287
- 2002-08-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2002-06-28➕CHARENTE SERVICES LIMITED appointedcorporate-secretary
- 2002-06-28➖LANGFORD, Colin Peter resignedsecretary
- 2002-02-13➖WINFIELD, Robert resigneddirector
- 2002-01-21➕CHARENTE GROUP LIMITED appointedcorporate-director
- 2002-01-21➖SEAFORD, Michael Anthony resigneddirector
- 2000-09-26➖PETTIT, Gordon James resigneddirector
- 2000-08-31➖FULLER, Roger Montague resigneddirector
- 2000-07-28➖CARGILL, Peter Robert resigneddirector
- 2000-06-30➕WINFIELD, Robert appointeddirector
- 2000-05-01➖POWELL, David James resigneddirector
- 1999-12-06➕CARGILL, Peter Robert appointeddirector
- 1998-07-14🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 1998-07-08➖DEVEREUX, Maureen Janet resignedsecretary
- 1998-07-08➕LANGFORD, Colin Peter appointedsecretary
- 1998-07-08➖BALDWIN, Douglas Vincent resigneddirector
- 1998-07-08➖DEVEREUX, Arthur William resigneddirector
- 1998-07-08➕PETTIT, Gordon James appointeddirector
- 1998-07-08➕SEAFORD, Michael Anthony appointeddirector
- 1996-10-01➕POWELL, David James appointeddirector
- 1996-07-20🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 1996-03-19🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1995-03-30➖COVENTRY, Steven Ronald resigneddirector
- 1994-11-24➕BALDWIN, Douglas Vincent appointeddirector
Showing most recent 50 of 54 events
Owner dependency
98/100
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
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "LIMITED" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
96/100
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 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 35 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
1 high ·Company dissolved
highCompany has been dissolved — it no longer legally exists. Any diligence here is historical only.
Evidence: Dissolved on 2011-03-29
🔒Co-director network graph
Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
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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
Statusdissolved
Typeltd
Incorporated1991-06-13
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC7499 — SIC 7499
Registered office
Port Of Liverpool Building
2nd Floor Pier Head
Liverpool
Merseyside
L3 1BY
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: —
Last made up to: 2009-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: —
Last: —
Officers (0 active · 12 resigned)
CHARENTE SERVICES LIMITED→
Activecorporate-secretary · appointed 2002-06-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
TAYLOR, Anthony Christopher→
Activedirector · ~80y · appointed 2010-09-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CHARENTE GROUP LIMITED→
Activecorporate-director · appointed 2002-01-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
DEVEREUX, Maureen Janet→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 1998-07-08
LANGFORD, Colin Peter→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1998-07-08 · resigned 2002-06-28
BALDWIN, Douglas Vincent→
Resigneddirector · ~84y · appointed 1994-11-24 · resigned 1998-07-08
CARGILL, Peter Robert→
Resigneddirector · ~81y · appointed 1999-12-06 · resigned 2000-07-28
COVENTRY, Steven Ronald→
Resigneddirector · ~75y · resigned 1995-03-30
DEVEREUX, Arthur William→
Resigneddirector · ~91y · resigned 1998-07-08
FULLER, Roger Montague→
Resigneddirector · ~79y · appointed 1994-11-24 · resigned 2000-08-31
PARKER, John Frederick→
Resigneddirector · ~92y · resigned 1994-09-30
PETTIT, Gordon James→
Resigneddirector · ~86y · appointed 1998-07-08 · resigned 2000-09-26
POWELL, David James→
Resigneddirector · ~82y · appointed 1996-10-01 · resigned 2000-05-01
SEAFORD, Michael Anthony→
Resigneddirector · ~75y · appointed 1998-07-08 · resigned 2002-01-21
WINFIELD, Robert→
Resigneddirector · ~72y · appointed 2000-06-30 · resigned 2002-02-13
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 19/03/1996 | 14/07/1998 | |
| satisfied | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Mortgage debenture | 1 property | 28/11/1991 | 20/07/1996 |
Recent filings (104 total)
gazette-dissolved-voluntary
gazette · GAZ2(A)
2011-03-29
gazette-notice-voluntary
gazette · GAZ1(A)
2010-12-14
dissolution-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS01
2010-12-06
appoint-person-director-company-with-name
officers · AP01
2010-10-01
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2010-06-10
change-corporate-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH02
2010-06-09
change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH04
2010-06-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2010-06-02
legacy
annual-return · 363a
2009-07-21
accounts-with-made-up-date
accounts · AA
2009-05-14
legacy
annual-return · 363s
2008-07-21
accounts-with-made-up-date
accounts · AA
2008-05-13
legacy
annual-return · 363s
2007-06-28
accounts-with-made-up-date
accounts · AA
2007-06-03
legacy
annual-return · 363s
2006-06-21