CATHERINE SEMARK LTD

💤Zombieactive

05856256 · ltd · incorporated 2006-06-23

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 Jun 2025

Net worth

£66.3k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Technical and vocational secondary education

Sector: Education

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

41 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £66,344

Net assets shrinking

Down £30,700 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£66k

↓ 32% YoY

Current Assets

£105k

↓ 21% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-06-30	2024-06-30
Total assets	£66.3k	£97.0k
Current assets	£104.8k	£133.3k
Net assets	£66.3k	£97.0k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand

2026-01-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-11-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-11-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-06-26
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2016-11-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-27
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-09-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-07-02
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-10-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-06-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2006-06-23
🏢
Company incorporated
As CATHERINE SEMARK LTD
2006-06-23
➕
MCCANN, Sean appointed
secretary
2006-06-23
➕
SEMARK, Catherine Jane appointed
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 "SEMARK" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
+No director turnover: Company is 20 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 20 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Ms Catherine Semark Individual · British · DOB 04/1966 · age 60	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Education & training · AL postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
BRAMALL ENTERPRISES LIMITED→ 09747877 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
BRILLIANCE LAW ACADEMY UK LTD→ 16319623 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
BROCK HOUSE NURSERY SCHOOL LIMITED→ 03261877 · est 1996 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	29y	—	—
BRONWELL LIMITED→ 02686801 · est 1992 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	34y	—	—
BROOKS HOLMES LTD→ 06454515 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	—	—
CALVARY SCHOOL OF PROPHETIC MINISTRY LTD→ 06955328 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
CAMVISION INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY LIMITED→ 14581732 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
CAREERNATURE LIMITED→ 03003772 · est 1994 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	31y	—	—
CARLSON HAYNES LIMITED→ 09920269 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
CASSANA PERFORMANCE ACADEMY LTD→ 11645951 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
CD PARENTS HUB LTD→ 16752822 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
CELTIC HARMONY→ 03631395 · est 1998 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	27y	—	—

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

Incorporated2006-06-23

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC85320 — Technical and vocational secondary education

Registered office

8 Thornton Street

St Albans

Hertfordshire

AL3 5JW

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-03-31

Last made up to: 2025-06-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-07-07

Last: 2025-06-23

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MCCANN, Sean→

secretary · appointed 2006-06-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SEMARK, Catherine Jane→

director · ~60y · appointed 2006-06-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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