C O B ASSOCIATES LTD

💤Zombieactive
05054170 · ltd · incorporated 2004-02-24
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Event catering activities
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

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

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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 (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
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£0Jan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Average employees100600

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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-09
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AAMD
  4. 2023-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-10-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-11-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-08-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-09-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-10-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-01-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2015-09-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-03-31
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2008-01-31
    ➕
    STOKES, Jane appointed
    secretary
  16. 2008-01-31
    ➖
    STOKES, Tim Charles resigned
    secretary
  17. 2008-01-31
    ➖
    BLACK, Matthew John resigned
    director
  18. 2004-02-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As C O B ASSOCIATES LTD
  19. 2004-02-24
    ➕
    STOKES, Tim Charles appointed
    director
  20. 2004-02-24
    ➕
    STOKES, Tim Charles appointed
    secretary
  21. 2004-02-24
    ➕
    FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2004-02-24
    ➖
    FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2004-02-24
    ➕
    BLACK, Matthew John appointed
    director
  24. 2004-02-24
    ➕
    FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2004-02-24
    ➖
    FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

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 22 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 candidate

Strong 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 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Tim Charles Stokes
Individual · British · DOB 07/1961 · age 65
——sig. influencesignificant influence22/11/2016

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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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
Incorporated2004-02-24
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56210 — Event catering activities

Registered office

12a Montpellier Parade
Harrogate
North Yorkshire
HG1 2TJ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-24
Last: 2026-01-10

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

STOKES, Jane→
secretary · appointed 2008-01-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STOKES, Tim Charles→
director · ~65y · appointed 2004-02-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STOKES, Tim Charles→
secretary · appointed 2004-02-24 · resigned 2008-01-31
Resigned
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-02-24 · resigned 2004-02-24
Resigned
BLACK, Matthew John→
director · ~56y · appointed 2004-02-24 · resigned 2008-01-31
Resigned
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-02-24 · resigned 2004-02-24
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
2026-01-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-12
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2023-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-09