A BETTER STEP LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
07075237 · ltd · incorporated 2009-11-13
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 12.7y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Nov 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other human health activities
Sector: Human health & social work
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 12.7y
85/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 12.7 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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
52 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.
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 · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-11-30 | 2023-11-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 200 | 200 |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-03📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2018-12-03📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2018-12-03📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2018-12-03📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2018-12-03📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2018-08-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-08📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2017-12-01📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2017-12-01📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2013-10-02🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 2013-08-22🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 2010-02-19➕COOKE, Robert Barrie appointedsecretary
- 2010-02-19➕COOKE, Claire Anne appointeddirector
- 2010-02-19➕COOKE, Robert Barrie appointeddirector
- 2010-02-19➖GRAEME, Paul Gordon resigneddirector
- 2009-11-13🏢Company incorporatedAs A BETTER STEP LIMITED
- 2009-11-13➕GRAEME, Paul Gordon appointeddirector
Owner dependency
91/100
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 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
79/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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 Robert Barrie Cooke Individual · British · DOB 03/1961 · age 65 | 50–75% | 50–75% | 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Claire Anne Cooke Individual · British · DOB 07/1974 · age 52 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% 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
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
Incorporated2009-11-13
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC86900 — Other human health activities
Registered office
The Clinic 10a West End
Swanland
North Ferriby
HU14 3PE
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-26
Last: 2025-11-12
Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)
COOKE, Robert Barrie→
Activesecretary · appointed 2010-02-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
COOKE, Claire Anne→
Activedirector · ~52y · appointed 2010-02-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
COOKE, Robert Barrie→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2010-02-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
GRAEME, Paul Gordon→
Resigneddirector · ~79y · appointed 2009-11-13 · resigned 2010-02-19
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 02/10/2013 | — | |
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 22/08/2013 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (52 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-12-03