FIRST STEP 2 FITNESS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04855587 · ltd · incorporated 2003-08-04
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
£-10.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Fitness facilities
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -48% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. 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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
51 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.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredNegative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £10,384
Cash draining
Cash down 48% YoY
Cash YoY
-48%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£559
↓ 48% YoY
Net Worth
-£10k
↓ 29% YoY
Current Assets
£1k
↓ 36% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £5.3k | £-7.2k |
| Current assets | £1.1k | £1.8k |
| Cash | £559 | £1.1k |
| Debtors | £504 | £504 |
| Net assets | £-10.4k | £-8.0k |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-08-17📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-01-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-09-25📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2013-12-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2008-04-11➖BINKS, Dorothy resignedsecretary
- 2005-05-24➖BINKS, Dorothy resigneddirector
- 2004-09-03➕BINKS, Dorothy appointedsecretary
- 2004-09-03➖SPINKS, Susan Angela resignedsecretary
- 2004-09-03➕BINKS, Dorothy appointeddirector
- 2004-09-03➖KENNEY, Karen Shiela resigneddirector
- 2003-08-04🏢Company incorporatedAs FIRST STEP 2 FITNESS LIMITED
- 2003-08-04➕SPINKS, Susan Angela appointeddirector
- 2003-08-04➕SPINKS, Susan Angela appointedsecretary
- 2003-08-04➕KENNEY, Karen Shiela appointeddirector
Owner dependency
93/100
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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
85/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
- 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
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 Susan Angela Spinks Individual · British · DOB 05/1966 · age 60 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Leisure & entertainment · DL postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CROOK GOLF CLUB LIMITED→ 10655866 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| DAB GOLF LTD→ 14495344 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| DOWNING DANCE ACADEMY LIMITED→ 12137727 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| DRAMA IN THE DALE CIC→ 09515625 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ENPOINTE DANCE COMPANY LTD→ 13310298 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ETTO PRODUCTIONS LTD→ 13529132 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| EVENWOOD TOWN JUNIORS FC LTD→ 14719127 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| EXORTUS LTD→ 12684811 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| FIGHT&FITNESS LIMITED→ 14521594 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| FILTR SPORTS LTD→ 13177179 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| FOCUS CUP LTD→ 11427943 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| FORGE FIT LTD→ 12364183 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2003-08-04
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC93130 — Fitness facilities
Registered office
176 Victoria Road
Darlington
Co. Durham
DL1 5JN
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-18
Last: 2025-08-04
Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)
SPINKS, Susan Angela→
Activedirector · ~60y · appointed 2003-08-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BINKS, Dorothy→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2004-09-03 · resigned 2008-04-11
SPINKS, Susan Angela→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2003-08-04 · resigned 2004-09-03
BINKS, Dorothy→
Resigneddirector · ~81y · appointed 2004-09-03 · resigned 2005-05-24
KENNEY, Karen Shiela→
Resigneddirector · ~61y · appointed 2003-08-04 · resigned 2004-09-03
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (51 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-10-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-11-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-02-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-02-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2018-12-21