24STEPS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

07051205 · ltd · incorporated 2009-10-20

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 Oct 2025

Net worth

£7.8k

book net assets

Opportunity

76/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Information technology consultancy activities

Sector: Information & communication

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (65/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

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

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

33 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

76/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

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 £7,795

Net assets shrinking

Down £20,696 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£8k

↓ 73% YoY

Current Assets

£77k

↑ 1.4% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-10-31	2024-10-31
Total assets	£8.5k	£29.2k
Current assets	£77.1k	£76.0k
Net assets	£7.8k	£28.5k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2026-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-05-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-06-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-06-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-03-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-10-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-05-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-10-24
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-05-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2009-10-20
🏢
Company incorporated
As 24STEPS LIMITED
2009-10-20
➕
STEPHENS, Christopher Anthony appointed
director
2009-10-20
➕
WAKELAM, Melanie Linda appointed
director

Owner dependency

73/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

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.
+No director turnover: Company is 17 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

59/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Christopher Anthony Stephens Individual · British · DOB 09/1975 · age 51	50–75%	—	50-75% shares	20/10/2016

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

6 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

Incorporated2009-10-20

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC62020 — Information technology consultancy activities

Registered office

70 Seabourne Road

Southbourne

Dorset

BH5 2HT

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-07-31

Last made up to: 2025-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-03

Last: 2025-10-20

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

STEPHENS, Christopher Anthony→

director · ~51y · appointed 2009-10-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

WAKELAM, Melanie Linda→

director · ~48y · appointed 2009-10-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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