4AD MUSIC LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
03914397 · ltd · incorporated 2000-01-27
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£-187.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Artistic creation
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 79). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
20 connected companies via shared directors
90
Filing history
80 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £187,653

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£654
Net Worth
-£188k
Current Assets
£2k
Current Liabilities
—
-£188k-£150k-£112k-£74k-£36k£2kDec 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£-187.7k—
Current assets£1.7k—
Cash£654—
Debtors£1.0k—
Net assets£-187.7k—
Average employees—200

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 address
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-06-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-01-27
    ➖
    HEDGES, Peter Killian resigned
    secretary
  8. 2021-01-27
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  9. 2020-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-06-18
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-02-06
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2019-02-06
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2019-02-06
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  15. 2018-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-04-06
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  17. 2018-04-06
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  18. 2018-04-06
    📄
    withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
  19. 2001-01-01
    ➖
    HEATH, Andrew resigned
    secretary
  20. 2001-01-01
    ➕
    HEDGES, Peter Killian appointed
    secretary
  21. 2000-10-19
    ➕
    HEATH, Andrew appointed
    director
  22. 2000-10-19
    ➕
    MILLS, Martin Charles appointed
    director
  23. 2000-10-19
    ➕
    HEATH, Andrew appointed
    secretary
  24. 2000-01-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 4AD MUSIC LIMITED
  25. 2000-01-27
    ➕
    M W DOUGLAS & COMPANY LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2000-01-27
    ➖
    M W DOUGLAS & COMPANY LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2000-01-27
    ➕
    DOUGLAS NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  28. 2000-01-27
    ➖
    DOUGLAS NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 79 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 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Martin Charles Mills
Individual · British · DOB 05/1949 · age 77
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr Andrew Heath
Individual · British · DOB 06/1947 · age 79
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Leisure & entertainment · SW postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
1936MGMT LTD→
14391155 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————3y——
24 HOUR ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED→
14080823 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————3y——
28&2 PRODUCTIONS LTD→
15663455 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
2PADEL LIMITED→
16819578 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
324 ACTIVITIES LIMITED→
15487408 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————2y——
345 GOLF LIMITED→
11184798 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
————8y——
4 DIMENSIONAL FITNESS LIMITED→
03727775 · est 1999 · no financials extracted
————27y——
4 NPR LIMITED→
15632484 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————2y——
404 FITNESS GROUP LTD→
16773019 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
4D LIFE LTD→
12313488 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
————6y——
4DEAL STUDIOS LTD→
14388068 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————3y——
4HORSE RACING LTD→
14925526 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————2y——
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
Incorporated2000-01-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC90030 — Artistic creation

Registered office

17-19 Alma Road
London
SW18 1AA
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-07
Last: 2026-01-24

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

HEATH, Andrew→
director · ~79y · appointed 2000-10-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MILLS, Martin Charles→
director · ~77y · appointed 2000-10-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HEATH, Andrew→
secretary · appointed 2000-10-19 · resigned 2001-01-01
Resigned
HEDGES, Peter Killian→
secretary · appointed 2001-01-01 · resigned 2021-01-27
Resigned
M W DOUGLAS & COMPANY LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-01-27 · resigned 2000-01-27
Resigned
DOUGLAS NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-01-27 · resigned 2000-01-27
Resigned

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

Recent filings (80 total)

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-02-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-15
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2021-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-13