BACKSTAGE LIBRARY WORKS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
08123988 · ltd · incorporated 2012-06-29
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
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Library activities
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, 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 (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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
49 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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£0Dec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · IFRS
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Average employees100100

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-10-03
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2025-09-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  5. 2024-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-09-25
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  7. 2023-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-12-24
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  11. 2021-09-27
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  12. 2020-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-09-27
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  15. 2019-03-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-12-22
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  17. 2018-09-27
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  18. 2018-06-28
    ➖
    F&L COSEC LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2013-08-09
    ➕
    F&L COSEC LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2013-08-09
    ➖
    F&L LEGAL LLP resigned
    corporate-secretary
  21. 2012-06-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BACKSTAGE LIBRARY WORKS LIMITED
  22. 2012-06-29
    ➕
    MERRILL, John Taylor appointed
    director
  23. 2012-06-29
    ➕
    F&L LEGAL LLP appointed
    corporate-secretary

Owner dependency

90/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
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 14 years.
  • 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
John Taylor Merrill
Individual · American · DOB 09/1954 · age 72
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2012-06-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC91011 — Library activities

Registered office

Bank Chambers 1-3 Woodford Avenue
Gants Hill
Ilford
Essex
IG2 6UF
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-10-05
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-07-13
Last: 2026-06-29

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

MERRILL, John Taylor→
director · ~72y · appointed 2012-06-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
F&L COSEC LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2013-08-09 · resigned 2018-06-28
Resigned
F&L LEGAL LLP→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2012-06-29 · resigned 2013-08-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (49 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-07-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-06-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-10
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-10-03
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-23
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-07
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2021-12-24