BLACKBARN COMPUTERS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05543151 · ltd · incorporated 2005-08-23
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
£28.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Wholesale of computers, computer peripheral equipment and software
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 20.5y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 20.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
55 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
Positive net assets
Net assets £28,496

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£28k
↑ 414% YoY
Current Assets
£72k
↑ 8.5% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£14k£29k£43k£57k£72kJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£31.4k£12.6k
Current assets£71.6k£66.0k
Net assets£28.5k£5.5k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

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 (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-11-12
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-11-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2015-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2014-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2007-07-16
    ➕
    HAWES, Susan Janet appointed
    secretary
  16. 2007-07-15
    ➖
    HEXTON, Richard resigned
    secretary
  17. 2006-01-13
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  18. 2005-08-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BLACKBARN COMPUTERS LIMITED
  19. 2005-08-23
    ➕
    HAWES, Wesley appointed
    director
  20. 2005-08-23
    ➕
    HEXTON, Richard appointed
    secretary
  21. 2005-08-23
    ➕
    HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2005-08-23
    ➖
    HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2005-08-23
    ➕
    HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2005-08-23
    ➖
    HANOVER DIRECTORS 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 Wesley Hawes
Individual · British · DOB 08/1977 · age 49
75–100%
—75-100% shares23/08/2016

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
Incorporated2005-08-23
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46510 — Wholesale of computers, computer peripheral equipment and software

Registered office

Unit 30 Rippers Court
Station Road
Sible Hedingham
Essex
CO9 3PY

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-17
Last: 2025-10-03

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

HAWES, Susan Janet→
secretary · appointed 2007-07-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HAWES, Wesley→
director · ~49y · appointed 2005-08-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HEXTON, Richard→
secretary · appointed 2005-08-23 · resigned 2007-07-15
Resigned
HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-08-23 · resigned 2005-08-23
Resigned
HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-08-23 · resigned 2005-08-23
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
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Debenture1 property13/01/2006—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (55 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-16