BLACKS OF SOPWELL LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05475004 · ltd · incorporated 2005-06-08
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£13.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of other furniture
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
7 officers (1 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
74 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £13,287

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£13k
Current Assets
£125k
Current Liabilities
—
£0£25k£50k£75k£100k£125kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£26.9k—
Current assets£124.5k—
Net assets£13.3k—

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 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (30 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-06-15
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2021-10-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-05-24
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  10. 2019-05-24
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2019-05-24
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  12. 2019-05-15
    ➖
    BLACK, Margaret Elizabeth resigned
    secretary
  13. 2019-05-15
    ➖
    BLACK, Anthony William resigned
    director
  14. 2019-05-15
    ➖
    BLACK, Margaret Elizabeth resigned
    director
  15. 2018-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-02-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-12-19
    ➖
    BLACK, Stephen Anthony resigned
    director
  18. 2017-12-19
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  19. 2017-08-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  20. 2017-07-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  21. 2005-06-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BLACKS OF SOPWELL LIMITED
  22. 2005-06-08
    ➕
    BLACK, Ian appointed
    director
  23. 2005-06-08
    ➕
    BLACK, Margaret Elizabeth appointed
    secretary
  24. 2005-06-08
    ➕
    UK SECRETARIES LTD appointed
    corporate-secretary
  25. 2005-06-08
    ➖
    UK SECRETARIES LTD resigned
    corporate-secretary
  26. 2005-06-08
    ➕
    BLACK, Anthony William appointed
    director
  27. 2005-06-08
    ➕
    BLACK, Margaret Elizabeth appointed
    director
  28. 2005-06-08
    ➕
    BLACK, Stephen Anthony appointed
    director
  29. 2005-06-08
    ➕
    UK DIRECTORS LTD appointed
    corporate-director
  30. 2005-06-08
    ➖
    UK DIRECTORS LTD resigned
    corporate-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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BLACK" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Ian Black
Individual · British · DOB 07/1972 · age 54
50–75%
—50-75% shares01/06/2017

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Typeltd
Incorporated2005-06-08
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC31090 — Manufacture of other furniture

Registered office

North Barn D
Cottonmill Lane
St. Albans
AL1 2HA
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-20
Last: 2026-06-06

Officers (1 active · 6 resigned)

BLACK, Ian→
director · ~54y · appointed 2005-06-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BLACK, Margaret Elizabeth→
secretary · appointed 2005-06-08 · resigned 2019-05-15
Resigned
UK SECRETARIES LTD→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2005-06-08 · resigned 2005-06-08
Resigned
BLACK, Anthony William→
director · ~87y · appointed 2005-06-08 · resigned 2019-05-15
Resigned
BLACK, Margaret Elizabeth→
director · ~81y · appointed 2005-06-08 · resigned 2019-05-15
Resigned
BLACK, Stephen Anthony→
director · ~57y · appointed 2005-06-08 · resigned 2017-12-19
Resigned
UK DIRECTORS LTD→
corporate-director · appointed 2005-06-08 · resigned 2005-06-08
Resigned

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

Recent filings (74 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-17
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-11-26