26 CHARACTERS LTD

🌳Matureactive

04882312 · private-limited-guarant-nsc · incorporated 2003-08-29

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

£1.6k

book net assets

Opportunity

81/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other publishing activities

Sector: Information & communication

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 78). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (72/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

14 officers (7 active, 14 linked, 11 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)

Director network

6 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

80 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

81/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £1,649

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£2k

↑ 38% YoY

Current Assets

£4k

↑ 15% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£3.9k	£3.4k
Current assets	£3.9k	£3.4k
Net assets	£1.6k	£1.2k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (38 events)Click to expand

2026-01-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-26
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-11-26
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-11-13
➕
GORDON, Sophie Dorothy Jane appointed
director
2023-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-30
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-06-24
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC08
2018-06-22
📄
withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
2017-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-11-09
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2016-10-30
➕
HAYES, Andrew Colin appointed
director
2016-09-09
➖
LYNHAM, Thomas Firth resigned
director
2015-02-26
➖
DAVIES, James Karel resigned
director
2014-09-18
➕
CLARKSON, Martin appointed
director
2014-09-18
➕
LEE, Martin appointed
director
2014-07-24
➖
AFIA, Benjamin Paul resigned
director
2013-04-25
➕
WILCOX, Suzanne Natalie appointed
secretary
2013-04-25
➖
LYNHAM, Thomas Firth resigned
secretary
2012-03-15
➖
HENNESSEY, Martin resigned
director
2011-09-19
➖
RICH, Timothy James resigned
director
2004-07-20
➕
AFIA, Benjamin Paul appointed
director
2003-09-12
➖
JOIHN ELLIS & CO resigned
corporate-secretary
2003-08-29
🏢
Company incorporated
As 26 CHARACTERS LTD
2003-08-29
➕
OSCAR, Margaret Andrea appointed
director
2003-08-29
➕
SIMMONS, John Neil appointed
director
2003-08-29
➕
LYNHAM, Thomas Firth appointed
secretary
2003-08-29
➕
JOIHN ELLIS & CO appointed
corporate-secretary
2003-08-29
➕
DAVIES, James Karel appointed
director
2003-08-29
➕
HENNESSEY, Martin appointed
director
2003-08-29
➕
LYNHAM, Thomas Firth appointed
director
2003-08-29
➕
RICH, Timothy James appointed
director

Owner dependency

65/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS

-6 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100

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 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
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.)

🔒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

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0151 PRODUCTIONS LTD→ 15777900 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
1705 DESIGN LIMITED→ 06858866 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	17y	—	—
1ST4 BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 08307681 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	—	—
20 WINSTON RECORDS LTD→ 14147241 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
22AUDIO LTD→ 14807745 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
24 RACING MEDIA LTD→ 12489761 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
240 DIGITAL LTD→ 10402841 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
27 ADVISORY LTD→ 11702538 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
2M NETWORKS LTD→ 07640989 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
3D HD PRINTS UK LIMITED→ 16079390 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
43 BRIDGE STREET LTD→ 16213120 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
484 PRODUCTIONS LTD→ 09064522 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—

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

Typeprivate-limited-guarant-nsc

Incorporated2003-08-29

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC58190 — Other publishing activities

Registered office

24 Shearman Road

Wirral

CH61 9NX

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-25

Last: 2025-09-11