BUSINESS SERVICES ONLINE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC299876 · ltd · incorporated 2006-03-29

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

£233

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Advertising agencies

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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

5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

59 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

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 £233

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£233

↑ 23% YoY

Current Assets

£3k

↓ 14% 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	£1.5k	£1.3k
Current assets	£2.5k	£2.9k
Cash	—	£91
Net assets	£233	£189

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

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2025-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-01-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-11
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-03-31
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-04-01
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2011-09-01
➕
DOUGLAS, Andrew John appointed
secretary
2011-09-01
➖
DOUGLAS, Pauline resigned
secretary
2006-11-01
➕
DOUGLAS, Pauline appointed
secretary
2006-04-18
➖
HARRIS, Kerry resigned
secretary
2006-03-29
🏢
Company incorporated
As BUSINESS SERVICES ONLINE LIMITED
2006-03-29
➕
ARKWRIGHT, Peter appointed
director
2006-03-29
➕
ARKWRIGHT, Tracy appointed
director
2006-03-29
➕
HARRIS, Kerry appointed
secretary

Owner dependency

84/100

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

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100

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 62. Early succession window.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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 Peter Arkwright Individual · British · DOB 07/1964 · age 62	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	06/04/2016

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

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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

Incorporated2006-03-29

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC73110 — Advertising agencies

Registered office

Farries Kirk & Mcvean Dumfries Enterprise Park

Heathhall

Dumfries

Dumfries & Galloway

DG1 3SJ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-12

Last: 2026-03-29

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

DOUGLAS, Andrew John→

secretary · appointed 2011-09-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ARKWRIGHT, Peter→

director · ~62y · appointed 2006-03-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ARKWRIGHT, Tracy→

director · ~54y · appointed 2006-03-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DOUGLAS, Pauline→

secretary · appointed 2006-11-01 · resigned 2011-09-01

Resigned

HARRIS, Kerry→

secretary · appointed 2006-03-29 · resigned 2006-04-18

Resigned

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