BEN'S BAKERY LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
11309459 · ltd · incorporated 2018-04-13
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
£-124.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -59% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 7.1y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 7.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
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
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
25 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £124,479
Cash draining
Cash down 59% YoY
Cash YoY
-59%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£11k
↓ 59% YoY
Net Worth
-£124k
↑ 6.7% YoY
Current Assets
£21k
↓ 45% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-08-31 | 2024-08-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £16.8k | £10.8k |
| Current assets | £21.3k | £39.0k |
| Cash | £10.9k | £26.9k |
| Debtors | £3.4k | £5.1k |
| Net assets | £-124.5k | £-133.4k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 signals 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
2
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2025-05-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-30📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2023-08-01📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2023-05-15📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2022-08-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-05-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-15📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-04-15📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-08-04📄mortgage-create-with-deedmortgage · MR01
- 2020-07-24📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2020-07-03🔒Charge registered #2Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2020-01-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-09📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2019-04-02📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2019-04-01🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2018-04-13🏢Company incorporatedAs BEN'S BAKERY LIMITED
- 2018-04-13➕LEE, Benjamin Matthew appointeddirector
- 2018-04-13📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
80/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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.
- +No director turnover: Company is 8 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
45/100
Moderate signalSome succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
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
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Benjamin Matthew Lee Individual · British · DOB 07/1976 · age 50 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 13/04/2018 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Food & drink · LL postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABERSOCH BREWING COMPANY LTD→ 14272257 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ANGLESEY CHARCUTERIE LTD→ 14795798 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ANGLESEY RUM CO LTD→ 13254114 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ANGLESEY SPIRIT COMPANY LIMITED→ 11905821 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ARAN HUFEN IA LTD→ 14993519 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ARMON LIMITED→ 04493578 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| BARAM AFRICAN FOODS AND DRINKS LTD→ 16268344 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BECWS GLANRHYD CYF→ 15234886 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BECWS ISLYN BAKERY LTD→ 08287527 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| BECWS ISLYN PWLLHELI CYF→ 16018388 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BECWS MON BAKERY LIMITED→ 10106980 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| BIG HAND BREWING COMPANY LIMITED→ 08196840 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2018-04-13
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC10710 — Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes
Registered office
97 Queens Road
Llandudno
Conwy
LL30 1TY
Wales
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-26
Last: 2026-04-12
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
LEE, Benjamin Matthew→
Activedirector · ~50y · appointed 2018-04-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 03/07/2020 | — | |
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | A registered charge | — | 01/04/2019 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (25 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-04-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-05
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-08-30
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-08-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-15
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-05-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-15