4S SYSTEMS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
03124016 · ltd · incorporated 1995-11-09
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 29.7y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2025
Net worth
£371.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Business and domestic software development
Sector: Information & communication
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 62020Information technology consultancy activities
  • 62090Other information technology service activities
  • 95110Repair of computers and peripheral equipment
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 80). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 29.7y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 29.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

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, 4 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 2 with DOB)
76
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
96 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £371,050
Cash YoY
+37%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£516k
↑ 37% YoY
Net Worth
£371k
↑ 7.4% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£103k£206k£309k£412k£516kDec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Cash£515.6k£376.1k
Net assets£371.1k£345.6k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
4
filings
  • • 2 persons-with-significant-control
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2026-01-08
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2026-01-08
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2025-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-08-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2024-05-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-10-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-08-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-08-02
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  15. 2017-08-02
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  16. 2016-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2003-11-01
    ➕
    BRYANT, Geoffrey Charles appointed
    secretary
  18. 2003-11-01
    ➖
    WORTHING, Jock Charles resigned
    secretary
  19. 1999-08-01
    ➕
    CRANE, David John appointed
    director
  20. 1996-08-16
    ➖
    BRYANT, Geoffrey Charles resigned
    secretary
  21. 1996-08-16
    ➕
    WORTHING, Jock Charles appointed
    secretary
  22. 1996-08-16
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
  23. 1995-11-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 4S SYSTEMS LIMITED
  24. 1995-11-09
    ➕
    CRANE, John Michael appointed
    director
  25. 1995-11-09
    ➕
    BRYANT, Geoffrey Charles appointed
    secretary
  26. 1995-11-09
    ➕
    M W DOUGLAS & COMPANY LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 1995-11-09
    ➖
    M W DOUGLAS & COMPANY LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 1995-11-09
    ➕
    DOUGLAS NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  29. 1995-11-09
    ➖
    DOUGLAS NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
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 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David John Crane
Individual · British · DOB 07/1976 · age 50
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr John Michael Crane
Individual · British · DOB 08/1946 · age 80
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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.

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
Incorporated1995-11-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC62012 — Business and domestic software development

Registered office

Wey Court West,
Union Road
Farnham
Surrey
GU9 7PT
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-23
Last: 2025-11-09

Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)

BRYANT, Geoffrey Charles→
secretary · appointed 2003-11-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CRANE, David John→
director · ~50y · appointed 1999-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CRANE, John Michael→
director · ~80y · appointed 1995-11-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRYANT, Geoffrey Charles→
secretary · appointed 1995-11-09 · resigned 1996-08-16
Resigned
WORTHING, Jock Charles→
secretary · appointed 1996-08-16 · resigned 2003-11-01
Resigned
M W DOUGLAS & COMPANY LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1995-11-09 · resigned 1995-11-09
Resigned
DOUGLAS NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1995-11-09 · resigned 1995-11-09
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank PLC
Debenture1 property16/08/199602/08/2017

Recent filings (96 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-14
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-01-08
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-01-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-08