BACKWOODSMAN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05444101 · ltd · incorporated 2005-05-05
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 Oct 2025
Net worth
£-4.32M
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other amusement and recreation activities n.e.c.
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
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: Deleverage or restructure. Leverage at 100% of assets — consider sale of non-core assets or equity injection. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 14.0y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 14.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
9 officers (1 active, 9 linked, 5 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
79 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £4,323,028
High leverage
Liabilities are 100% of total assets
Leverage
100%
Liabilities / Total assets

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£4.3m
↓ 1.4% YoY
Current Assets
£37k
↓ 56% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£4.3m-£3.4m-£2.6m-£1.7m-£798k£84kOct 2024Oct 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-10-312024-10-31
Total assets£79.6k£-4.26M
Current assets£36.9k£83.7k
Cash—£2.7k
Debtors—£81.0k
Net assets£-4.32M£-4.26M

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (35 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-07-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-06-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-11-24
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  5. 2023-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-10-04
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2021-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-09-23
    ➖
    FELLOWES, Joanna Bernadette resigned
    director
  10. 2021-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-12-04
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  12. 2019-12-03
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  13. 2019-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-12-21
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  15. 2018-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-12-11
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  17. 2017-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-04-04
    ➖
    CHILD & CHILD SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2017-02-03
    ➕
    CHILD & CHILD SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2013-05-02
    ➖
    DOLMAN, Edward resigned
    secretary
  21. 2013-04-15
    ➕
    FELLOWES, Joanna Bernadette appointed
    director
  22. 2012-10-31
    ➖
    DOLMAN, Edward resigned
    director
  23. 2012-10-31
    ➖
    VIDLER, Joanne Elizabeth resigned
    director
  24. 2012-10-31
    ➖
    WHEWELL, James Richard Shepherd resigned
    director
  25. 2012-08-14
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  26. 2010-07-30
    ➕
    DOLMAN, Edward appointed
    director
  27. 2010-07-30
    ➕
    VIDLER, Joanne Elizabeth appointed
    director
  28. 2010-07-30
    ➕
    WHEWELL, James Richard Shepherd appointed
    director
  29. 2005-05-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BACKWOODSMAN LIMITED
  30. 2005-05-05
    ➕
    FELLOWES, Freddie John appointed
    director
  31. 2005-05-05
    ➕
    DOLMAN, Edward appointed
    secretary
  32. 2005-05-05
    ➕
    JPCORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  33. 2005-05-05
    ➖
    JPCORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  34. 2005-05-05
    ➕
    JPCORD LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  35. 2005-05-05
    ➖
    JPCORD LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

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 21 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 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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 Freddie John Fellowes
Individual · British · DOB 05/1978 · age 48
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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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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
Incorporated2005-05-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC93290 — Other amusement and recreation activities n.e.c.

Registered office

The Estate Office Grange Farm
Abbots Ripton
Huntingdon
Cambridgeshire
PE28 2PH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-19
Last: 2026-05-05

Officers (1 active · 8 resigned)

FELLOWES, Freddie John→
director · ~48y · appointed 2005-05-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DOLMAN, Edward→
secretary · appointed 2005-05-05 · resigned 2013-05-02
Resigned
CHILD & CHILD SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2017-02-03 · resigned 2017-04-04
Resigned
JPCORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-05-05 · resigned 2005-05-05
Resigned
DOLMAN, Edward→
director · ~50y · appointed 2010-07-30 · resigned 2012-10-31
Resigned
FELLOWES, Joanna Bernadette→
director · ~49y · appointed 2013-04-15 · resigned 2021-09-23
Resigned
VIDLER, Joanne Elizabeth→
director · ~44y · appointed 2010-07-30 · resigned 2012-10-31
Resigned
WHEWELL, James Richard Shepherd→
director · ~45y · appointed 2010-07-30 · resigned 2012-10-31
Resigned
JPCORD LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-05-05 · resigned 2005-05-05
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Debenture1 property14/08/2012—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (79 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-07-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-07-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-06-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-17
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2023-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-09
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-29