BUSINESS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

05291602 · ltd · incorporated 2004-11-19

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

£-21.6k

book net assets

Opportunity

77/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Accounting and auditing activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

69202Bookkeeping activities
69203Tax consultancy

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 20.6y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 20.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

67 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

77/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £21,557

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

-£22k

↓ 148% YoY

Current Assets

£46k

↓ 17% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-01-31	2024-01-31
Total assets	£6.4k	£20.3k
Current assets	£46.0k	£55.7k
Cash	—	£3.4k
Debtors	£44.5k	£50.8k
Net assets	£-21.6k	£-8.7k

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

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2026-01-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-11-27
📄
accounts-amended-with-made-up-date
accounts · AAMD
2019-11-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-16
📄
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2019-01-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-15
📄
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2017-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-12-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2007-05-01
➕
ECCLES, Christopher John appointed
secretary
2007-04-30
➖
ELLWOOD, Stephen John resigned
secretary
2007-04-30
➖
ELLWOOD, Stephen John resigned
director
2005-12-13
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
2004-12-14
➕
ELLWOOD, Stephen John appointed
director
2004-11-19
🏢
Company incorporated
As BUSINESS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED
2004-11-19
➕
HINES, Gemma Louise appointed
director
2004-11-19
➕
ELLWOOD, Stephen John appointed
secretary

Owner dependency

85/100

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.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

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 · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Miss Gemma Louise Hines Individual · British · DOB 12/1978 · age 48	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	31/05/2017

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 →

Similar companies

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ALPHA OMEGA LEGAL LIMITED→ 07887898 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
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BUILT HERITAGE LTD→ 15746764 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
C & C HANKINSON LTD→ 15784791 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
C3 BIOTECHNOLOGIES (ACRYLICS) LIMITED→ 15251696 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
C3 BIOTECHNOLOGIES (BIO-PROPANE) LIMITED→ 13322387 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
C3 BIOTECHNOLOGIES (HYPERSONICS) LIMITED→ 15401074 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
C3 BIOTECHNOLOGIES (MARITIME AND AEROSPACE) LIMITED→ 12795742 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
C3 SYSTEMS LTD→ 16456924 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
CADENCE CREATIVE LTD→ 10828132 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
CAINE PERFORMANCE LTD→ 13104244 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2004-11-19

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC69201 — Accounting and auditing activities

Registered office

3 Lowther Gardens

Grange Over Sands

Cumbria

LA11 7EX

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-10-31

Last made up to: 2025-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-06-14

Last: 2026-05-31

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

ECCLES, Christopher John→

secretary · appointed 2007-05-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HINES, Gemma Louise→

director · ~48y · appointed 2004-11-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ELLWOOD, Stephen John→

secretary · appointed 2004-11-19 · resigned 2007-04-30

Resigned

ELLWOOD, Stephen John→

director · ~44y · appointed 2004-12-14 · resigned 2007-04-30

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	13/12/2005	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.