ACTIVE COSMETICS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04210567 · ltd · incorporated 2001-05-03
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 24.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒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: Non-trading company
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Dormant / non-trading with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 71). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 24.3y

50/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 24.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (60/100)

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
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
18 connected companies via shared directors
90
Filing history
70 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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-09-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-10-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-06-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-06-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-07-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-05-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-05-06
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2014-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-05-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2010-09-14
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  17. 2010-08-24
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  18. 2010-04-05
    ➕
    SHARMAN, Stephen John appointed
    director
  19. 2002-03-07
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Yorkshire Bank PLC
  20. 2001-07-04
    ➕
    SHARMAN, Heather appointed
    secretary
  21. 2001-07-04
    ➕
    SHARMAN, John William appointed
    director
  22. 2001-07-04
    ➖
    LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2001-07-04
    ➖
    LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2001-05-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACTIVE COSMETICS LIMITED
  25. 2001-05-03
    ➕
    LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2001-05-03
    ➕
    LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 71 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 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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.)

Group structure

Rainbow Cosmetics (Holdings) Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Rainbow Cosmetics (Holdings) Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
⬇
ACTIVE COSMETICS LIMITED
This company · 04210567

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Rainbow Cosmetics (Holdings) Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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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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
Incorporated2001-05-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC74990 — Non-trading company

Registered office

61 Stanley Road
Whitefield
Manchester
M45 8GZ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-08
Last: 2026-03-25

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

SHARMAN, Heather→
secretary · appointed 2001-07-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHARMAN, John William→
director · ~71y · appointed 2001-07-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHARMAN, Stephen John→
director · ~46y · appointed 2010-04-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-05-03 · resigned 2001-07-04
Resigned
LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-05-03 · resigned 2001-07-04
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Debenture1 property24/08/2010—
satisfied
Virgin Money
Yorkshire Bank PLC
Debenture1 property07/03/200214/09/2010
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (70 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-05-09