BUSINESS OFFICE STATIONERY SUPPLIES LTD
🌳Matureactive
SC417161 · ltd · incorporated 2012-02-16
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.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Feb 2025
Net worth
£-90.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Agents involved in the sale of a variety of goods
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
38 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £90,658
Cash YoY
-26%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£483
↓ 26% YoY
Net Worth
-£91k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£483
↓ 26% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-02-28 | 2024-02-29 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-90.7k | £-90.1k |
| Current assets | £483 | £650 |
| Cash | £483 | £650 |
| Net assets | £-90.7k | £-90.1k |
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
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-14📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2021-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-17📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-28📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2018-03-21📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-03-10📄dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspendeddissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
- 2018-01-30📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2012-02-16🏢Company incorporatedAs BUSINESS OFFICE STATIONERY SUPPLIES LTD
- 2012-02-16➕CARSON, Stephen appointedsecretary
- 2012-02-16➕CARSON, Stephen appointeddirector
- 2012-02-16➕RHODES, Ian appointeddirector
Owner dependency
66/100
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.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
59/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
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.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 14 years.
- 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 Stephen Carson Individual · British · DOB 07/1964 · age 62 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Ian Rhodes Individual · British · DOB 05/1966 · age 60 | 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.
Similar companies
Active · Wholesale & distribution · EH postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BON-ACCORD ENGINEERING SUPPLIES (CASPIAN) LIMITED→ SC192592 · est 1999 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 27y | — | — |
| BRAVO DESIGN STUDIO LTD→ SC644492 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| BREWBOX EDINBURGH LTD→ SC721723 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| BRITSENSE LIMITED→ SC447984 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| BURDA EXPORT LTD→ SC850200 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CAFEDIRECT PLC→ SC141496 · est 1992 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 33y | — | — |
| CAM BO EDINBURGH LTD.→ SC568331 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| CAMERON & CAMERON KITCHENS LTD→ SC876122 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CAPTURED CORNERS LTD→ SC832961 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CARGOWALA LTD→ SC782788 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| CARTESIAN LIME LIMITED→ SC619504 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| CARTEVE LTD→ SC868413 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2012-02-16
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46190 — Agents involved in the sale of a variety of goods
Registered office
5 South Charlotte Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4AN
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-12
Last: 2026-02-26
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
CARSON, Stephen→
Activedirector · ~62y · appointed 2012-02-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (38 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-11-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-02-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-12-18