BIG FISH (SEAFOODS) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04024900 · ltd · incorporated 2000-06-27
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Wholesale of other food, including fish, crustaceans and molluscs
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
69 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Average employees200—

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
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 address
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 address
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2026-05-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-03-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2025-02-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2025-02-13
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  7. 2024-05-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2023-02-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-05-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-11-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-11-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-07-19
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2017-02-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-07-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2004-06-02
    ➖
    DOLAN, Roberta resigned
    director
  18. 2004-06-01
    ➕
    COULBECK, Louise Helen appointed
    secretary
  19. 2004-06-01
    ➕
    COULBECK, Andrew appointed
    director
  20. 2004-06-01
    ➕
    COULBECK, Louise Helen appointed
    director
  21. 2004-06-01
    ➖
    DOLAN, Don Frederick resigned
    secretary
  22. 2000-06-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BIG FISH (SEAFOODS) LIMITED
  23. 2000-06-27
    ➕
    DOLAN, Don Frederick appointed
    secretary
  24. 2000-06-27
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2000-06-27
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2000-06-27
    ➕
    DOLAN, Roberta appointed
    director
  27. 2000-06-27
    ➕
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  28. 2000-06-27
    ➖
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Louise Helen Coulbeck
Individual · British · DOB 12/1963 · age 63
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/07/2016

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

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CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
ATLANTIC FRESH LIMITED→
05654335 · est 2005 · no financials extracted
————20y——
ATLANTIC OCEAN SEAFOOD LIMITED→
06546518 · est 2008 · no financials extracted
————18y——
BENAKOVA BLOOMS LIMITED→
16332133 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
BENNETTS & COMPANY (GRIMSBY) LIMITED→
00492707 · est 1951 · no financials extracted
————75y——
BETTER BEAUTY LTD→
14772081 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————3y——
BETYKEVIN LTD→
16460623 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
BLUE WAVE FISH LTD→
15576577 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————2y——
BLUEBERRY BOO LIMITED→
12627499 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
————5y——
BLUECHIP TRADE LTD→
16133911 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
BLUECREST FOODS LIMITED→
01477891 · est 1980 · no financials extracted
————46y——
BNPZ LIMITED→
17106676 · est 2026 · no financials extracted
———————
BOROUGH PARK RETAIL LIMITED→
09013567 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
————11y——
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
Incorporated2000-06-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46380 — Wholesale of other food, including fish, crustaceans and molluscs

Registered office

26 South Saint Mary's Gate
Grimsby
DN31 1LW
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-11
Last: 2025-06-27

Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)

COULBECK, Louise Helen→
secretary · appointed 2004-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COULBECK, Andrew→
director · ~67y · appointed 2004-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COULBECK, Louise Helen→
director · ~63y · appointed 2004-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DOLAN, Don Frederick→
secretary · appointed 2000-06-27 · resigned 2004-06-01
Resigned
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-06-27 · resigned 2000-06-27
Resigned
DOLAN, Roberta→
director · ~87y · appointed 2000-06-27 · resigned 2004-06-02
Resigned
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-06-27 · resigned 2000-06-27
Resigned

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

Recent filings (69 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-05-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-05-20
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-03-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-02-13
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-02-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-05-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-02-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-05-10