121 COMPUTER SERVICES LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04517744 · ltd · incorporated 2002-08-22
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 2024
Net worth
£773.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale of computers, peripheral units and software in specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 65). 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
2 live charges · oldest 19.9y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 19.9 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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
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
68 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 · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £773,637
Cash YoY
-12%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£106k
↓ 12% YoY
Net Worth
£774k
↑ 12% YoY
Current Assets
£331k
↑ 36% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £801.7k | £725.5k |
| Current assets | £330.7k | £243.3k |
| Cash | £106.4k | £120.3k |
| Debtors | £5.8k | £4.9k |
| Net assets | £773.6k | £691.0k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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 (28 events)Click to expand
- 2025-04-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-06-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-16📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2015-12-16📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2015-12-16🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2015-12-16🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2015-11-26📄mortgage-charge-whole-release-with-charge-numbermortgage · MR05
- 2009-05-08🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 2007-03-31➖BLACKBOURN, Mary Anne Elizabeth resignedsecretary
- 2006-05-31🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 2003-01-17➕HELEN SIDA LIMITED appointedcorporate-secretary
- 2003-01-17➖SMITH, Peter resigneddirector
- 2002-08-22🏢Company incorporatedAs 121 COMPUTER SERVICES LIMITED
- 2002-08-22➕BLACKBOURN, Mary Anne Elizabeth appointeddirector
- 2002-08-22➕BLACKBOURN, Mary Anne Elizabeth appointedsecretary
- 2002-08-22➕QA REGISTRARS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-08-22➖QA REGISTRARS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-08-22➕SMITH, Peter appointeddirector
- 2002-08-22➕QA NOMINEES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2002-08-22➖QA NOMINEES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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
cleanNo 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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Mary Anne Elizabeth Blackbourn Individual · British · DOB 06/1961 · age 65 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 06/04/2016 |
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 · Retail · IP postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 HARLESTON LTD→ 15654496 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 100BGMM (TRADING) LTD→ 15717415 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 10XRUPT LTD→ 16218838 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 111 SARACEN GROUP LIMITED→ 17118815 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 12 BASKETS LTD→ 13556315 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| 142 ART CIC→ 12673093 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| 1GX LTD→ 15867807 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 1ST ATLAS LTD→ 14514212 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| 1ST CLASS SUPPLEMENTS LTD→ 15978969 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 1ST4LEATHERS LIMITED→ 14909053 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 1UP GAMING LIMITED→ 09559624 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| 20 SHARP MEN LTD→ 16757825 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2002-08-22
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47410 — Retail sale of computers, peripheral units and software in specialised stores
Registered office
Bramble Cottage
Middle Road
Denton
Norfolk
IP20 0AJ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-09
Last: 2026-02-23
Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)
HELEN SIDA LIMITED→
Activecorporate-secretary · appointed 2003-01-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BLACKBOURN, Mary Anne Elizabeth→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2002-08-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BLACKBOURN, Mary Anne Elizabeth→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2002-08-22 · resigned 2007-03-31
QA REGISTRARS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-08-22 · resigned 2002-08-22
SMITH, Peter→
Resigneddirector · ~66y · appointed 2002-08-22 · resigned 2003-01-17
QA NOMINEES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-08-22 · resigned 2002-08-22
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Legal charge | 1 property | 08/05/2009 | 16/12/2015 | |
| satisfied | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Legal charge | 2 properties | 31/05/2006 | 16/12/2015 |
Recent filings (68 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-06-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-07-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-02-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-04-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-07-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-28