BLACK MARKET LONDON LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
06805326 · ltd · incorporated 2009-01-29
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Jan 2025
Net worth
£120.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Support activities to performing arts
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). 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 (78/100)

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
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
38 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £120,265
Net assets shrinking
Down £725 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£120k
~ YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£24k£48k£73k£97k£121kJan 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£79.6k£80.3k
Current assets—£1.7k
Net assets£120.3k£121.0k

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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-10-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-31
    📄
    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. 2016-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-02-01
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-02-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-02-18
    📄
    appoint-corporate-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP04
  15. 2014-10-01
    ➕
    DU GUA SECRETARIES LTD appointed
    corporate-secretary
  16. 2014-10-01
    ➖
    ALEXANDER, Lesley Ellen resigned
    secretary
  17. 2009-01-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BLACK MARKET LONDON LIMITED
  18. 2009-01-29
    ➕
    GELSTON, Rene Marie Joseph appointed
    director
  19. 2009-01-29
    ➕
    ALEXANDER, Lesley Ellen 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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

98/100
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 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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 17 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 Rene Marie Joseph Gelston
Individual · British · DOB 04/1954 · age 72
50–75%
—50-75% shares01/06/2016

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

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
Incorporated2009-01-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC90020 — Support activities to performing arts

Registered office

Holywell Cottage Holywell Lane
Upchurch
Sittingbourne
Kent
ME9 7HN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-06
Last: 2026-01-23

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

DU GUA SECRETARIES LTD→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2014-10-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GELSTON, Rene Marie Joseph→
director · ~72y · appointed 2009-01-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ALEXANDER, Lesley Ellen→
secretary · appointed 2009-01-29 · resigned 2014-10-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (38 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-31