4ORM ARCHITECTURE LTD

🌳Matureactive
06935940 · ltd · incorporated 2009-06-17
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Architectural activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 74). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. 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, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
50 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£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees200200

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. 2025-07-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-05-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2023-05-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2023-05-02
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2023-05-02
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2023-05-02
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2023-05-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2023-05-02
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2022-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-11-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-09-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-06-07
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  17. 2012-03-31
    ➕
    GOODEN, Richard John appointed
    director
  18. 2012-03-31
    ➖
    STOKES, Gareth resigned
    director
  19. 2009-06-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 4ORM ARCHITECTURE LTD
  20. 2009-06-17
    ➕
    COLEMAN, Stephen Paul appointed
    director
  21. 2009-06-17
    ➕
    STOKES, Gareth appointed
    director

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

89/100
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 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stephen Paul Coleman
Individual · British · DOB 06/1959 · age 67
25–50%
—25-50% shares01/07/2016
Mr Richard John Gooden
Individual · British · DOB 01/1952 · age 74
25–50%
—25-50% shares01/07/2016

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

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
Incorporated2009-06-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

The Courtyard Shoreham Road
Upper Beeding
Steyning
West Sussex
BN44 3TN
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-30
Last: 2025-05-16

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

COLEMAN, Stephen Paul→
director · ~67y · appointed 2009-06-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GOODEN, Richard John→
director · ~74y · appointed 2012-03-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STOKES, Gareth→
director · ~49y · appointed 2009-06-17 · resigned 2012-03-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (50 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-16
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-05-22
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-05-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-05-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-05-02
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-05-02
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-05-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-19