COCOA BLACK LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC310529 · ltd · incorporated 2006-10-17
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 14.7y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Oct 2025
Net worth
£-56.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10821
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 14.7y
85/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 14.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
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
54 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
65
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £56,272
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£56k
↑ 50% YoY
Current Assets
£118k
↑ 14% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-10-31 | 2024-10-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £86.7k | £49.5k |
| Current assets | £118.3k | £103.5k |
| Net assets | £-56.3k | £-113.3k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-07-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-04📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-09-04📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-07-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-02📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2019-10-02📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2019-07-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-07-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-06-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-03-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2011-07-29🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2008-10-01➕HINKS, Ruth appointedsecretary
- 2008-10-01➕HINKS, David, Dr appointeddirector
- 2008-10-01➕HINKS, Ruth appointeddirector
- 2006-10-17🏢Company incorporatedAs COCOA BLACK LIMITED
- 2006-10-17➕INCORPORATE SECRETARIAT LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2006-10-17➖INCORPORATE SECRETARIAT LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2006-10-17➕INCORPORATE DIRECTORS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2006-10-17➖INCORPORATE DIRECTORS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
76/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
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 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
59/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 18 years.
- 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
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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr David Hinks Individual · British · DOB 05/1972 · age 54 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Ruth Hinks Individual · British · DOB 06/1972 · age 54 | 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.
🔒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
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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
Incorporated2006-10-17
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC10821 — SIC 10821
Registered office
Woodbine Cottage
Eddleston
Peebles
EH45 8PJ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last: 2025-10-17
Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)
Active
HINKS, David, Dr→
Activedirector · ~54y · appointed 2008-10-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
INCORPORATE SECRETARIAT LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2006-10-17 · resigned 2006-10-17
INCORPORATE DIRECTORS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-10-17 · resigned 2006-10-17
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Floating charge | 1 property | 29/07/2011 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (54 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-04-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-06
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-09-04
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-22