121 FINANCIAL ONE LTD
🌳Matureactive
04367905 · ltd · incorporated 2002-02-06
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of insurance agents and brokers
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (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
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
59 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-02-28 | 2024-02-28 |
|---|
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
- 2025-04-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-11📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2022-04-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-05-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-11-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-02-15📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2017-05-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-03-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-03-03📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-03-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2015-03-06📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2002-02-18➕WATERFALL BROWN, Nigel Anthony appointedsecretary
- 2002-02-18➕DRAKE, Michael John appointeddirector
- 2002-02-18➕WATERFALL BROWN, Nigel Anthony appointeddirector
- 2002-02-11➖FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-02-11➖FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD resignedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2002-02-06🏢Company incorporatedAs 121 FINANCIAL ONE LTD
- 2002-02-06➕FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-02-06➕FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD appointedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
83/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
96/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 70 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Nigel Anthony Waterfall-Brown Individual · British · DOB 10/1956 · age 70 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Micheal John Drake Individual · British · DOB 02/1961 · age 65 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Financial services · DL postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 FINANCE LIMITED→ 12111923 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| 3SM INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ 12248379 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| 3T CAPITAL→ 12039736 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| 45 FINANCIAL LIMITED→ 13938720 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| A AND M BUSINESS INVESTOR SERVICES LTD→ 08732481 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| AA MORTGAGES AND FINANCE LIMITED→ 10491234 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ABLONGFELLOW LTD→ 12369557 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ACTUATE MORTGAGES LTD→ 16314752 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACUITY FINANCIAL PLANNING LTD→ 14792080 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ACUMEN INVESTMENT & PENSION SOLUTIONS LTD→ 13014479 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ADLAM FINANCIAL LIMITED→ 09924372 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| ADVANCED MORTGAGE SOLUTIONS NORTH EAST LIMITED→ 13421800 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2002-02-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC66220 — Activities of insurance agents and brokers
Registered office
1 Chancery Lane
Darlington
DL1 5QP
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-20
Last: 2026-02-06
Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)
WATERFALL BROWN, Nigel Anthony→
Activesecretary · appointed 2002-02-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
DRAKE, Michael John→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2002-02-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
WATERFALL BROWN, Nigel Anthony→
Activedirector · ~70y · appointed 2002-02-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-02-06 · resigned 2002-02-11
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-02-06 · resigned 2002-02-11
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (59 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-11-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-03-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-10
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-04-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-11-26