CHALK & CHARCOAL LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
09494435 · ltd · incorporated 2015-03-17
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
£1.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 11010
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 46342SIC 46342
  • 74100Specialised design activities
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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, 3 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 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
29 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,519

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£2k
↑ 54% YoY
Current Assets
£70k
↓ 16% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£17k£33k£50k£67k£83kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£4.7k£10.2k
Current assets£69.8k£83.4k
Net assets£1.5k£985

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-05-28
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-05-28
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2024-05-28
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2024-05-28
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2024-05-28
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2023-08-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-07-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-10-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-10-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-05-07
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2018-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-03-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CHALK & CHARCOAL LIMITED
  17. 2015-03-17
    ➕
    MARSTON, Benedict John appointed
    director
  18. 2015-03-17
    ➕
    MARSTON, Kate appointed
    director

Owner dependency

71/100
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.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

41/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • 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
Mrs Kate Marston
Individual · British · DOB 04/1975 · age 51
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting17/03/2017
Mr Benedict John Marston
Individual · British · DOB 11/1972 · age 54
25–50%
—25-50% shares17/03/2017

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
Incorporated2015-03-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC11010 — SIC 11010

Registered office

H J P Chartered, Audley House
Northbridge Road
Berkhamsted
Herts
HP4 1EH
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last: 2026-03-17

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MARSTON, Benedict John→
director · ~54y · appointed 2015-03-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MARSTON, Kate→
director · ~51y · appointed 2015-03-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (29 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-05-28
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-05-28
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-05-28
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-05-28
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-01