COLLECTORS MERCHANTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03044805 · ltd · incorporated 1995-04-11
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£48.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 30.7y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 30.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (1 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
94 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £48,148

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£48k
↑ 2.1% YoY
Current Assets
£135k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£27k£55k£82k£109k£137kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£48.1k£47.2k
Current assets£135.2k£136.5k
Net assets£48.1k£47.2k

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 (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-03-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-03-17
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2023-02-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-07-04
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  7. 2022-07-04
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  8. 2022-06-15
    📄
    mortgage-charge-whole-cease-and-release-with-charge-number
    mortgage · MR05
  9. 2022-06-13
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2022-03-11
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  11. 2021-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-02-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-10-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2008-09-01
    ➖
    FARRIES, Penelope Ann resigned
    secretary
  18. 2000-06-28
    ➖
    FARRIES, John resigned
    secretary
  19. 2000-06-28
    ➕
    FARRIES, Penelope Ann appointed
    secretary
  20. 1999-08-01
    ➖
    FARRIES, Penelope Ann resigned
    director
  21. 1995-10-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  22. 1995-04-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COLLECTORS MERCHANTS LIMITED
  23. 1995-04-11
    ➕
    FARRIES, John appointed
    director
  24. 1995-04-11
    ➕
    FARRIES, John appointed
    secretary
  25. 1995-04-11
    ➕
    CHETTLEBURGH INTERNATIONAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 1995-04-11
    ➖
    CHETTLEBURGH INTERNATIONAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 1995-04-11
    ➕
    FARRIES, Penelope Ann appointed
    director
  28. 1995-04-11
    ➕
    CHETTLEBURGH'S LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  29. 1995-04-11
    ➖
    CHETTLEBURGH'S LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 31 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 Farries
Individual · British · DOB 11/1964 · age 62
75–100%
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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BLUE TRIANGLE LIMITED→
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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
Incorporated1995-04-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade

Registered office

New England Office Station Road
Ardley
Bicester
OX27 7PQ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-25
Last: 2026-04-11

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

FARRIES, John→
director · ~62y · appointed 1995-04-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FARRIES, John→
secretary · appointed 1995-04-11 · resigned 2000-06-28
Resigned
FARRIES, Penelope Ann→
secretary · appointed 2000-06-28 · resigned 2008-09-01
Resigned
CHETTLEBURGH INTERNATIONAL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1995-04-11 · resigned 1995-04-11
Resigned
FARRIES, Penelope Ann→
director · ~60y · appointed 1995-04-11 · resigned 1999-08-01
Resigned
CHETTLEBURGH'S LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1995-04-11 · resigned 1995-04-11
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Mortgage debenture1 property27/10/199504/07/2022

Recent filings (94 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-29
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2022-07-04
mortgage-charge-whole-cease-and-release-with-charge-number
mortgage · MR05
2022-06-15
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-06-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-12
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2022-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-29