BIG FINISH MERCHANDISE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
12972988 · ltd · incorporated 2020-10-26
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 Oct 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Support activities to performing arts
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company 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. 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 (75/100)

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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
21 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
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-10-31
Average employees1

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
3
filings
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 address
  • 1 officers
Last 90 days
5
filings
  • 3 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 address
  • 1 officers
Last 180 days
7
filings
  • 3 persons-with-significant-control
  • 2 accounts
  • 1 address
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-06-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  2. 2026-06-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2026-06-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2026-05-08
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2026-05-08
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  6. 2026-04-13
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  7. 2026-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2025-12-16
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  9. 2025-10-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2024-07-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2023-06-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2022-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2022-01-19
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2022-01-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2022-01-19
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2020-10-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BIG FINISH MERCHANDISE LIMITED
  17. 2020-10-26
    HAIGH-ELLERY, Jason Charles appointed
    director
  18. 2020-10-26
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

88/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 6 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 med ·
Name changed recently
medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2025-12-16: certificate-change-of-name-company

Group structure

Big Finish Media Group Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Big Finish Media Group Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
BIG FINISH MERCHANDISE LIMITED
This company · 12972988

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Big Finish Media Group Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control23/03/2026
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Jason Charles Haigh-Elleryceased 23/03/2026· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control

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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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
Incorporated2020-10-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC90020 — Support activities to performing arts

Registered office

C/O Wilson Partners Tor
Saint-Cloud Way
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 8BN
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-09
Last: 2025-10-26

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

HAIGH-ELLERY, Jason Charles
director · ~58y · appointed 2020-10-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (21 total)

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2026-06-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-06-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-06-23
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-05-08
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2026-05-08
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2026-04-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-24
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2025-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-16