BIBUS (UK) LTD

💤Zombieactive
04084999 · ltd · incorporated 2000-10-06
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 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
81/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Agents involved in the sale of a variety of goods
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). 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 9.4y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 9.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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
7 officers (1 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
78 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
81/100Exceptional
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
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
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£0Dec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Average employees17001200

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-07-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-25
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-03-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2025-03-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-04-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-07-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-04-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-06-16
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  9. 2021-06-16
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  10. 2021-04-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-03-09
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  13. 2020-03-09
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2020-03-06
    ➖
    LIDDIARD, Christopher John resigned
    secretary
  15. 2020-03-06
    ➖
    LIDDIARD, Christopher John resigned
    director
  16. 2019-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-04-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-05-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  19. 2017-04-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  20. 2017-02-28
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  21. 2000-10-17
    ➕
    HODGES, Gavin Michael appointed
    director
  22. 2000-10-17
    ➕
    BINGLE, Timothy Mark appointed
    secretary
  23. 2000-10-17
    ➖
    BINGLE, Timothy Mark resigned
    secretary
  24. 2000-10-17
    ➕
    LIDDIARD, Christopher John appointed
    secretary
  25. 2000-10-17
    ➖
    WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2000-10-17
    ➕
    LIDDIARD, Christopher John appointed
    director
  27. 2000-10-17
    ➕
    MILNE, Stephen Andrew Austen appointed
    director
  28. 2000-10-17
    ➖
    MILNE, Stephen Andrew Austen resigned
    director
  29. 2000-10-17
    ➖
    WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  30. 2000-10-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BIBUS (UK) LTD
  31. 2000-10-06
    ➕
    WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  32. 2000-10-06
    ➕
    WATERLOW NOMINEES 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 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
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 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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

1 low
Multiple registered office changes
low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Christian Bibus
Individual · Swiss · DOB 04/1958 · age 68
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 →

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APPLIED HEALTHCARE PRODUCTS LIMITED→
12577173 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
————5y——
ASTLES ELECTRICAL WHOLESALERS LTD→
15117743 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————2y——
AVINITY LIMITED→
12834467 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
————5y——
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15332313 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————2y——
BERRYMART LTD→
07395922 · est 2010 · no financials extracted
————15y——
BESTPRICEWHOLESALE LTD→
16804120 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
BETTERTONS UK LIMITED→
13981431 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————4y——
BIBLIO PRODUCTS LIMITED→
03695752 · est 1999 · no financials extracted
————27y——
BINDER UK LIMITED→
06782293 · est 2009 · no financials extracted
————17y——
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06962523 · est 2009 · no financials extracted
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————29y——
BOE BEVERAGES LIMITED→
15542806 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
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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
Incorporated2000-10-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46190 — Agents involved in the sale of a variety of goods

Registered office

20-21 Soho Mills
Wooburn Green
Bucks
HP10 0PF
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-20
Last: 2025-10-06

Officers (1 active · 6 resigned)

HODGES, Gavin Michael→
director · ~66y · appointed 2000-10-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BINGLE, Timothy Mark→
secretary · appointed 2000-10-17 · resigned 2000-10-17
Resigned
LIDDIARD, Christopher John→
secretary · appointed 2000-10-17 · resigned 2020-03-06
Resigned
WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-10-06 · resigned 2000-10-17
Resigned
LIDDIARD, Christopher John→
director · ~54y · appointed 2000-10-17 · resigned 2020-03-06
Resigned
MILNE, Stephen Andrew Austen→
director · ~64y · appointed 2000-10-17 · resigned 2000-10-17
Resigned
WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-10-06 · resigned 2000-10-17
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
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
A registered charge—28/02/201716/06/2021

Recent filings (78 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2026-07-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-06-25
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2025-03-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2024-04-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2023-07-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2022-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-07
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2021-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2021-04-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-07