ART AUCTIONS LTD

💤Zombieactive
03391981 · ltd · incorporated 1997-06-25
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
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 47781
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 71). 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 24.9y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 24.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
75 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.

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 (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-05
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  3. 2024-09-05
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  4. 2024-08-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-08-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-08-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-08-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-11-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-10-02
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  10. 2020-10-01
    ➖
    JIANG, Zuosi resigned
    secretary
  11. 2019-11-29
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-08-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-08-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-06-25
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  16. 2017-06-25
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  17. 2016-09-19
    ➕
    JIANG, Zuosi appointed
    secretary
  18. 2016-09-18
    ➖
    CHAPMAN, Donald resigned
    secretary
  19. 2016-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2016-06-25
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  21. 2001-06-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  22. 1997-08-27
    ➕
    CHAPMAN, Keith Howard appointed
    director
  23. 1997-08-27
    ➕
    CHAPMAN, Donald appointed
    secretary
  24. 1997-08-27
    ➖
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1997-08-27
    ➖
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 1997-06-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ART AUCTIONS LTD
  27. 1997-06-25
    ➕
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 1997-06-25
    ➕
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 71 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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 29 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 Keith Howard Chapman
Individual · British · DOB 07/1955 · age 71
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/12/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1997-06-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47781 — SIC 47781

Registered office

6 West Street
Scarborough
YO11 2QL
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-09
Last: 2025-06-25

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

CHAPMAN, Keith Howard→
director · ~71y · appointed 1997-08-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CHAPMAN, Donald→
secretary · appointed 1997-08-27 · resigned 2016-09-18
Resigned
JIANG, Zuosi→
secretary · appointed 2016-09-19 · resigned 2020-10-01
Resigned
BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-06-25 · resigned 1997-08-27
Resigned
BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1997-06-25 · resigned 1997-08-27
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
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Debenture1 property19/06/200105/09/2024

Recent filings (75 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-25
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-09-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-03
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2020-10-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-25
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-11-29