BESBRODE PIANOS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04322557 · ltd · incorporated 2001-11-14
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£54.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Wholesale of musical instruments
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 47591Retail sale of musical instruments and scores
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 76-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 76). 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 (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 22.2y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 22.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 2 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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
58 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £54,521
Net assets shrinking
Down £89,098 YoY
Cash YoY
-27%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£63k
↓ 27% YoY
Net Worth
£55k
↓ 62% YoY
Current Assets
£337k
↓ 9.7% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£75k£149k£224k£299k£373kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£118.2k£217.6k
Current assets£337.2k£373.3k
Cash£63.0k£86.2k
Debtors£74.2k£2.1k
Net assets£54.5k£143.6k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-04-25
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2024-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-01-27
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-01-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2004-06-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  17. 2002-02-05
    ➕
    BESBRODE, Susan appointed
    secretary
  18. 2002-02-05
    ➕
    BESBRODE, Melvin appointed
    director
  19. 2002-02-05
    ➖
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 2002-02-05
    ➖
    AR NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  21. 2001-11-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BESBRODE PIANOS LIMITED
  22. 2001-11-14
    ➕
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2001-11-14
    ➕
    AR 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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BESBRODE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 76 — 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 76 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 24 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Melvin Besbrode
Individual · British · DOB 06/1950 · age 76
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control30/06/2016
Mrs Susan Besbrode
Individual · British · DOB 01/1951 · age 75
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control30/06/2016

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
Incorporated2001-11-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46491 — Wholesale of musical instruments

Registered office

Unit 1 Holbeck New Mills
Braithwaite Street
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS11 9XE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-29
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-28
Last: 2025-11-14

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

BESBRODE, Susan→
secretary · appointed 2002-02-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BESBRODE, Melvin→
director · ~76y · appointed 2002-02-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-11-14 · resigned 2002-02-05
Resigned
AR NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-11-14 · resigned 2002-02-05
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Debenture1 property03/06/2004—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (58 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-13