BRIDGEWATER FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD

💤Zombieactive
05712136 · ltd · incorporated 2006-02-16
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 2026
Net worth
£1.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other activities auxiliary to insurance and pension funding
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 14.1y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 14.1 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, 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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
57 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,569
Net assets shrinking
Down £125,983 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£2k
↓ 99% YoY
Current Assets
£4k
↓ 98% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£53k£107k£160k£214k£267kJan 2025Jan 2026

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2026-01-312025-01-31
Total assets£309£143.3k
Current assets£4.4k£266.9k
Net assets£1.6k£127.6k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-01-10
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2025-01-10
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  5. 2025-01-10
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2025-01-10
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2025-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2024-07-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2023-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-11-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2021-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2021-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-12-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2019-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2012-04-20
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Bridgewater Fs Directors Pension Scheme
  18. 2009-09-15
    ➕
    WICKS, Jacqueline Jean appointed
    secretary
  19. 2009-09-15
    ➕
    WICKS, Christopher Gerard Montgomery appointed
    director
  20. 2009-09-15
    ➖
    WICKS, Christopher Gerard Montgomery resigned
    secretary
  21. 2009-09-15
    ➖
    WICKS, Jacqueline Jean resigned
    director
  22. 2006-02-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BRIDGEWATER FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD
  23. 2006-02-16
    ➕
    WICKS, Christopher Gerard Montgomery appointed
    secretary
  24. 2006-02-16
    ➕
    WICKS, Jacqueline Jean appointed
    director

Owner dependency

93/100
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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Christopher Gerard Montgomery Wicks
Individual · British · DOB 06/1963 · age 63
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mrs Jacqueline Jean Wicks
Individual · British · DOB 02/1965 · age 61
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2006-02-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC66290 — Other activities auxiliary to insurance and pension funding

Registered office

C/O Dhf Accounting Ltd
20 Market Street
Altrincham
WA14 1PF
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-10-31
Last made up to: 2026-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-05
Last: 2025-12-22

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

WICKS, Jacqueline Jean→
secretary · appointed 2009-09-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WICKS, Christopher Gerard Montgomery→
director · ~63y · appointed 2009-09-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WICKS, Christopher Gerard Montgomery→
secretary · appointed 2006-02-16 · resigned 2009-09-15
Resigned
WICKS, Jacqueline Jean→
director · ~61y · appointed 2006-02-16 · resigned 2009-09-15
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
Bridgewater Fs Directors Pension Scheme
Floating charge1 property20/04/2012—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (57 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-01-10
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-01-10
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-01-10
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-07-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-22