BALTIC & ORIENTAL COMPANY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04994315 · ltd · incorporated 2003-12-12
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 2025
Net worth
£421.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 52220
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 74). 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 (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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
6 officers (1 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
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
60 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £421,492
Cash YoY
-0%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£450k
~ YoY
Net Worth
£421k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£457k
↓ 1.3% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£92k£185k£277k£370k£462kDec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Total assets£421.6k£419.7k
Current assets£456.6k£462.4k
Cash£450.1k£451.3k
Debtors£6.5k£11.1k
Net assets£421.5k£419.5k

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 (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-09-25
    ➖
    PORTER, David resigned
    secretary
  5. 2023-09-25
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  6. 2023-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-10-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-09-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-04-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-06-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-02-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-12-31
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-05-05
    ➕
    HOLMES, John Frank appointed
    director
  16. 2015-05-05
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  17. 2015-02-12
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  18. 2014-10-01
    ➖
    HOLMES, John Frank, Captain resigned
    director
  19. 2014-05-01
    ➖
    HOLMES, Frank Ernest resigned
    director
  20. 2003-12-31
    ➕
    HOLMES, John Frank, Captain appointed
    director
  21. 2003-12-17
    ➖
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2003-12-17
    ➖
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2003-12-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BALTIC & ORIENTAL COMPANY LIMITED
  24. 2003-12-12
    ➕
    PORTER, David appointed
    secretary
  25. 2003-12-12
    ➕
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2003-12-12
    ➕
    HOLMES, Frank Ernest appointed
    director
  27. 2003-12-12
    ➕
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

90/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100
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 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Frank Holmes
Individual · British · DOB 06/1952 · age 74
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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BELLA CATALEYA LTD→
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BELLA JANE BOATS LIMITED→
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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
Incorporated2003-12-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC52220 — SIC 52220

Registered office

42 Trinity Court
Hull
E Yorks
HU1 2NB

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-26
Last: 2025-12-12

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

HOLMES, John Frank→
director · ~74y · appointed 2015-05-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PORTER, David→
secretary · appointed 2003-12-12 · resigned 2023-09-25
Resigned
BRIGHTON SECRETARY LTD→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-12-12 · resigned 2003-12-17
Resigned
HOLMES, Frank Ernest→
director · ~105y · appointed 2003-12-12 · resigned 2014-05-01
Resigned
HOLMES, John Frank, Captain→
director · ~74y · appointed 2003-12-31 · resigned 2014-10-01
Resigned
BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LTD→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-12-12 · resigned 2003-12-17
Resigned

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

Recent filings (60 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-13
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-25