A SMALL FISH IN A BIG POND LTD
🏛️Establishedactive
10974061 · ltd · incorporated 2017-09-21
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
£-5.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Unlicenced restaurants and cafes
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 72/100 (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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (74/100)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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
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 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
36 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
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 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £5,638
Key financials
1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£753
Net Worth
-£6k
Current Assets
£753
Current Liabilities
—
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-07-31 |
|---|---|
| Total assets | £-5.6k |
| Current assets | £753 |
| Cash | £753 |
| Net assets | £-5.6k |
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 accounts
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 2 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2026-02-16📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2025-02-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-04📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-02-03📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-05-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-03📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-02-02📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-02-01📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2022-02-01📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-02-01📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-02-01📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-04-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-08📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-04-07📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-04-06📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-04-06📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2018-01-19➕BRAHAM, Cheryl Catherine appointeddirector
- 2017-09-21🏢Company incorporatedAs A SMALL FISH IN A BIG POND LTD
- 2017-09-21➕SEDDON, Ian Paul appointeddirector
Owner dependency
63/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial 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.
- +No director turnover: Company is 9 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
36/100
Weak signalLimited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.
SIGNALS
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
Red flags
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Ian Paul Seddon Individual · British · DOB 04/1976 · age 50 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 23/10/2017 |
Miss Cheryl Catherine Braham Individual · British · DOB 12/1976 · age 50 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 23/10/2017 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Ian Paul Seddonceased 23/10/2017· 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 →Similar companies
Active · Hospitality · PR postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A TASTE OF HOME BY MARIA AND SARAH LTD→ 16358843 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| A TO Z PRESTON LTD→ 16383148 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AMC EXPRESS (LIVERPOOL) LTD→ 16060900 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AMIGOS SMASH LIMITED→ 16806842 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AMORE LUXURY LETTINGS LTD→ 15401499 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AMR GROUP LTD→ 13590158 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| AMY BURNETT ALES LTD→ 16115796 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ANDORA GUESTHOUSE LIMITED→ 15757039 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ANGELA FRITH MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED→ 05307910 · est 2004 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| ANK FOODS LTD→ 16244846 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ANSO HOMES LIMITED→ 15773825 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ANTALA PRESTON LTD→ 16339974 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2017-09-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56102 — Unlicenced restaurants and cafes
Registered office
55 Hoghton St
Southport
Merseyside
PR9 0PG
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-12
Last: 2026-01-29
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
BRAHAM, Cheryl Catherine→
Activedirector · ~50y · appointed 2018-01-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SEDDON, Ian Paul→
Activedirector · ~50y · appointed 2017-09-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (36 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-30
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2026-02-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-17
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-02-04
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-02-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-10
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-02-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-02-02