20TH CENTURY TOYS LTD

💤Zombieactive
13087802 · ltd · incorporated 2020-12-17
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale of musical instruments and scores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 65). 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 (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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
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
11 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
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
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (8 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-02-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-03-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2020-12-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 20TH CENTURY TOYS LTD
  7. 2020-12-17
    BOURNE, Philip Leonard appointed
    director
  8. 2020-12-17
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 5 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Philip Leonard Bourne
Individual · British · DOB 02/1961 · age 65
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control17/12/2020

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Retail · HP postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
1085 LIMITED
12887190 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
5y
1ONE SPORTSCLUB LTD
13726166 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
4y
1ST CHOICE HOME IMPROVEMENTS LTD
16712541 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
2A LOCAL STORE LIMITED
16977139 · est 2026 · no financials extracted
2DOOR24 LTD
15294785 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
2y
3DC DESIGN LTD
16882960 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
4A TAILORING & BOUTIQUE LTD
13758431 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
4y
4OUR SERVICES LIMITED
06380589 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
18y
4SCONES LTD
15186993 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
2y
53 CLUB LTD
15961541 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
1y
7 KENNINGTON LTD
16442408 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
715 TRADING LTD
12746708 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
5y
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated2020-12-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47591 — Retail sale of musical instruments and scores

Registered office

Office 10, 76 Lincoln Road
Cressex Business Park
High Wycombe
HP12 3RH
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-30
Last: 2025-12-16

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

BOURNE, Philip Leonard
director · ~65y · appointed 2020-12-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (11 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-17
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-03-08
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-12-17