BLINDS FACTORY DIRECT LTD

💤Zombieactive
04789202 · ltd · incorporated 2003-06-05
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 84-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 84). 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).

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, 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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
62 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£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees200200

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-06-18
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  2. 2026-05-31
    ➖
    COWEN, Patrick Nicholas resigned
    director
  3. 2025-07-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-06-07
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2022-08-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-06-08
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  10. 2021-06-08
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2020-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-10-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-08-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-04-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2017-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-08-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2005-08-01
    ➕
    COWEN, Patrick Nicholas appointed
    director
  18. 2003-06-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BLINDS FACTORY DIRECT LTD
  19. 2003-06-05
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Rosalind Jane appointed
    secretary
  20. 2003-06-05
    ➕
    COWEN, Ernest Michael appointed
    director
  21. 2003-06-05
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2003-06-05
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 84 — 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 84 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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 Ernest Michael Cowen
Individual · British · DOB 05/1942 · age 84
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Rosalind Jane Cowen
Individual · British · DOB 03/1950 · age 76
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting01/07/2020

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
Incorporated2003-06-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47990 — Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets

Registered office

7 Princes Square
Princes Square
Harrogate
HG1 1ND
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-19
Last: 2026-06-05

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

MACKENZIE, Rosalind Jane→
secretary · appointed 2003-06-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COWEN, Ernest Michael→
director · ~84y · appointed 2003-06-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-06-05 · resigned 2003-06-05
Resigned
COWEN, Patrick Nicholas→
director · ~49y · appointed 2005-08-01 · resigned 2026-05-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (62 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-19
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-06-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-06-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-09
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2021-06-08
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-06-08