BEN BLACK LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC256282 · ltd · incorporated 2003-09-19

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

£6.5k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate

Sector: Real estate

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 59). 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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

2 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

50 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £6,499

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£6k

↑ 26% YoY

Current Assets

£1

↓ 100% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£6.5k	£5.2k
Current assets	£1	£2.6k
Net assets	£6.5k	£5.2k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand

2025-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-25
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2018-12-14
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2018-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-12-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-06-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-09-19
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2010-09-19
➕
BLACK, Douglas appointed
secretary
2010-09-19
➖
HOOD, John resigned
secretary
2003-09-19
🏢
Company incorporated
As BEN BLACK LIMITED
2003-09-19
➕
BLACK, Douglas appointed
director
2003-09-19
➕
HOOD, John appointed
secretary

Owner dependency

100/100

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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BLACK" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Douglas Black Individual · British · DOB 05/1967 · age 59	75–100%	75–100%	board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence	19/09/2016

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.

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Similar companies

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BCT ALLIANCE LTD→ SC745057 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
BEACON LETS LIMITED→ SC624622 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
BEAT HOLLOW LIMITED→ SC727276 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
BEATTIE ASSETS LTD→ SC764469 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
BEAUTIFUL ROCK LIMITED→ SC651654 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
BELGATE (DUNFERMLINE) LIMITED→ SC835085 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
BELL DEVELOPMENTS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC113130 · est 1988 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	37y	—	—
BELLAME SM LIMITED→ SC740404 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
BELLCOVE LIMITED→ SC504444 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
BELTRACE (ANTONINE) LIMITED→ SC742725 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
BEN CHELSEA LIMITED→ SC449402 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
BEN GURION PROPERTIES LIMITED→ SC511985 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2003-09-19

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC68209 — Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate

Registered office

1558 Great Western Road

Glasgow

G13 1HQ

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-02

Last: 2025-09-18

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

BLACK, Douglas→

secretary · appointed 2010-09-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BLACK, Douglas→

director · ~59y · appointed 2003-09-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HOOD, John→

secretary · appointed 2003-09-19 · resigned 2010-09-19

Resigned

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