FOUR BEES LTD

🌳Matureactive
08418746 · ltd · incorporated 2013-02-25
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 12.2y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10890
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 47810Retail sale via stalls and markets of food, beverages and tobacco products
  • 47990Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 81-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 81). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 12.2y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 12.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
44 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£9k£17k£26k£34k£43kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets—£33.6k
Current assets—£3.6k
Net assets—£42.9k

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 (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-06-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-11-10
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  7. 2021-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-05-31
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2019-09-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2018-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-11-09
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  13. 2018-08-15
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  14. 2018-08-15
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  15. 2018-08-09
    ➕
    RAND, Antony Richard appointed
    director
  16. 2018-05-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-07-31
    ➖
    RAND, Antony Richard resigned
    director
  18. 2015-01-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  19. 2014-04-24
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Leumi Abl Limited
  20. 2013-02-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FOUR BEES LTD
  21. 2013-02-25
    ➕
    RAND, Karen appointed
    secretary
  22. 2013-02-25
    ➕
    RAND, Karen appointed
    director
  23. 2013-02-25
    ➕
    RAND, Antony Richard appointed
    director

Owner dependency

81/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 81 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100
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 81 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 13 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Antony Richard Rand
Individual · English · DOB 04/1946 · age 80
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Karen Proctorceased 14/08/2018· 75-100% shares

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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16756603 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
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05261182 · est 2004 · no financials extracted
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GMPRIORITY PHARMA LTD→
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GRACE NATURAL PET FOODS LIMITED→
11313331 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
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GRANDMA’S OVEN LTD→
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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
Incorporated2013-02-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC10890 — SIC 10890

Registered office

Water Lane House Colneford Hill
White Colne
Colchester
CO6 2PJ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-18
Last: 2025-10-04

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

RAND, Karen→
secretary · appointed 2013-02-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RAND, Antony Richard→
director · ~80y · appointed 2018-08-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RAND, Karen→
director · ~81y · appointed 2013-02-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RAND, Antony Richard→
director · ~80y · appointed 2013-02-25 · resigned 2015-07-31
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Leumi Abl
Leumi Abl Limited
A registered charge1 property24/04/201406/01/2015

Recent filings (44 total)

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-06
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2021-11-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-05-31