BESPOKE PUBLISHING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05809289 · ltd · incorporated 2006-05-08
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 May 2025
Net worth
£7.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

What this business does
Primary activity: Other publishing activities
Sector: Information & communication
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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (75/100)

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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
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
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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £7,853
Cash YoY
-12%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£5k
↓ 12% YoY
Net Worth
£8k
↑ 58% YoY
Current Assets
£13k
↓ 13% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£3k£6k£9k£12k£15kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£8.5k£6.0k
Current assets£12.9k£14.8k
Cash£4.5k£5.1k
Debtors£8.4k£9.7k
Net assets£7.9k£5.0k

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-02-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-01-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-06-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2016-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-06-05
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-05-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2006-05-09
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  17. 2006-05-09
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  18. 2006-05-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BESPOKE PUBLISHING LIMITED
  19. 2006-05-08
    BENNETT, John Martin Stephen appointed
    secretary
  20. 2006-05-08
    BENNETT, Julie appointed
    director
  21. 2006-05-08
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2006-05-08
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LTD appointed
    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 20 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 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Julie Bennett
Individual · British · DOB 01/1972 · age 54
75100%
75-100% shares09/05/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Technology · DT postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
ANCHOVY PICTURES LTD
06542346 · est 2008 · no financials extracted
18y
APPLEBY SYSTEMS LTD
13152621 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
5y
ARCHQ GLOBAL LIMITED
16710633 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
ARTLYST LIMITED
10266693 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
9y
ATOMOS SYSTEMS LTD
16317995 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
1y
BALTRUNAS & CO LIMITED
12198285 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
6y
BANYAK FILMS LIMITED
06090079 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
19y
BASIL CONSULTING (UK) LIMITED
03651051 · est 1998 · no financials extracted
27y
BC VISUALS LTD
12344851 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
6y
BEAR WITH ME LIMITED
08284995 · est 2012 · no financials extracted
13y
BERT-BRAIN ENGINEERING LTD
14989167 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
2y
BEVINGTON SOFTWARE LTD
16836372 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
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
Incorporated2006-05-08
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58190 — Other publishing activities

Registered office

Mill House
Piddletrenthide
Dorchester
Dorset
DT2 7QX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-10
Last: 2026-04-26

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

BENNETT, John Martin Stephen
secretary · appointed 2006-05-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BENNETT, Julie
director · ~54y · appointed 2006-05-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRIGHTON SECRETARY LTD
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2006-05-08 · resigned 2006-05-09
Resigned
BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LTD
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-05-08 · resigned 2006-05-09
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
2026-04-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-05-20