BEN CROSSMAN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05599737 · ltd · incorporated 2005-10-21
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10320
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 10390SIC 10390
  • 10519SIC 10519
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 71). 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 (76/100)

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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
51 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£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees400400

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-04
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  5. 2022-07-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-07-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-10-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-10-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2018-10-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2018-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-10-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-07-20
    ➖
    JAMES, Harold resigned
    secretary
  15. 2016-07-20
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  16. 2016-04-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  17. 2008-08-30
    ➖
    CROSSMAN, Cheryl Jane resigned
    secretary
  18. 2008-08-30
    ➕
    JAMES, Harold appointed
    secretary
  19. 2005-10-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BEN CROSSMAN LIMITED
  20. 2005-10-21
    ➕
    CROSSMAN, Benjamin Andrew appointed
    director
  21. 2005-10-21
    ➕
    CROSSMAN, Cheryl Jane appointed
    secretary

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 "CROSSMAN" — 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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 71 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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 Benjamin Crossman
Individual · British · DOB 01/1955 · age 71
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2005-10-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC10320 — SIC 10320

Registered office

Mayfield Farm
Hewish
Weston-Super-Mare
North Somerset
BS24 6RQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-14
Last: 2025-09-30

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

CROSSMAN, Benjamin Andrew→
director · ~71y · appointed 2005-10-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CROSSMAN, Cheryl Jane→
secretary · appointed 2005-10-21 · resigned 2008-08-30
Resigned
JAMES, Harold→
secretary · appointed 2008-08-30 · resigned 2016-07-20
Resigned

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

Recent filings (51 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-25
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2023-04-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-30