ARKE OPTICS LTD
🌿Early-stageactive
14593166 · ltd · incorporated 2023-01-16
Investment thesis
Growth-phase business — story-led; valuation sensitive to momentum.
Why interesting: Trading is scaling; acquirers paying for trajectory get disproportionate leverage.
Why risky: Price often leads fundamentals; dependency on founder often high.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£-9.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
67/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Artistic creation
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 67/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
15 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
67/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £9,621
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£10k
↓ 55% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-9.6k | £-6.2k |
| Net assets | £-9.6k | £-6.2k |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-02✏️certificate-change-of-name-companychange-of-name · CERTNM
- 2024-07-25➖MCLEAN-JOHNSEN, James Alexander resigneddirector
- 2024-07-25📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2024-07-25📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2024-02-26📄change-account-reference-date-company-current-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2024-01-29📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-01-29📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-07-23📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2023-07-23📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-07-23📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-07-01➕MCLEAN-JOHNSEN, James Alexander appointeddirector
- 2023-01-16🏢Company incorporatedAs ARKE OPTICS LTD
- 2023-01-16➕COUGHLAN, Benjamin James appointeddirector
- 2023-01-16➕ILES, Jonathan Stuart appointeddirector
- 2023-01-16📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
58/100
Moderate — manageable with handoverSome founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
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
1 med ·Name changed recently
mediumName changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.
Evidence: 2024-09-02: certificate-change-of-name-company
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jonathan Stuart Iles Individual · British · DOB 09/1977 · age 49 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 16/01/2023 |
Benjamin James Coughlan Individual · British · DOB 04/1984 · age 42 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 16/01/2023 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr James Alexander Mclean-Johnsenceased 25/07/2024· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
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 · Leisure & entertainment · GU postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A THOMSON ILLUSTRATION LTD→ 11600640 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AM SPORTS MANAGEMENT LTD→ 16162306 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AMAWATERWAYS LIMITED→ 10184331 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| AMBASSADOR BAND LTD→ 09170615 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| AMP SOUND AND HIRE LIMITED→ 10145388 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ANARCHO PRODUCTIONS LTD→ 14530855 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ANTHONY SIEBEN LTD→ 13082174 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ANTHONYKOSKYMANAGEMENT LTD→ 15782292 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ANYTIME CLUBS UK LIMITED→ 07130617 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| AR STUNTS LTD→ 13689635 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ARMA CINE LTD→ 14593474 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ARMY RUGBY UNION TRUST→ 08167993 · 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
Incorporated2023-01-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC90030 — Artistic creation
Registered office
Unit A1 Send Business Estate Tannery Lane
Send
Woking
GU23 7EF
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-29
Last: 2026-01-15
Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)
COUGHLAN, Benjamin James→
Activedirector · ~42y · appointed 2023-01-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ILES, Jonathan Stuart→
Activedirector · ~49y · appointed 2023-01-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
MCLEAN-JOHNSEN, James Alexander→
Resigneddirector · ~38y · appointed 2023-07-01 · resigned 2024-07-25
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (15 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-13
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2024-09-02
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-07-25
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-07-25
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2024-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-01-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-01-29
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-07-23
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-07-23
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-07-23
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2023-01-16