BENTO EXPRESS UK LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC579484 · ltd · incorporated 2017-10-20
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
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Turnover
year to Oct 2025
Net worth
£294.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
66/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Take-away food shops and mobile food stands
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed hospitality with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 66/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: 1 insolvency-related filing on record. Filings relating to insolvency, liquidation, or administration exist in the company's history. Review before proceeding. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
32 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
66/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £294,711
Cash YoY
+18%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£292k
↑ 18% YoY
Net Worth
£295k
↑ 31% YoY
Current Assets
£349k
↑ 16% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£70k£140k£209k£279k£349kOct 2024Oct 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-10-312024-10-31
Total assets£304.3k£242.4k
Current assets£348.9k£300.4k
Cash£292.3k£248.4k
Debtors£52.1k£46.6k
Net assets£294.7k£225.0k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-15
    ZHANG, Rou appointed
    secretary
  4. 2024-03-15
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  5. 2024-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-08-09
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  7. 2023-08-09
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2023-08-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2023-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2023-03-02
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  11. 2023-03-02
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2022-12-15
    📄
    capital-statement-capital-company-with-date-currency-figure
    capital · SH19
  13. 2022-12-15
    ⚠️
    legacy
    insolvency · CAP-SS
  14. 2022-12-15
    📄
    legacy
    capital · SH20
  15. 2022-12-15
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  16. 2022-11-23
    📄
    second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
    confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
  17. 2022-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2022-06-15
    📄
    capital-name-of-class-of-shares
    capital · SH08
  19. 2022-06-15
    📄
    capital-name-of-class-of-shares
    capital · SH08
  20. 2021-07-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  21. 2017-10-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BENTO EXPRESS UK LTD
  22. 2017-10-20
    LIU, Jiawei appointed
    director

Owner dependency

80/100
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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 9 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 high ·
1 insolvency-related filing on record
high

Filings relating to insolvency, liquidation, or administration exist in the company's history. Review before proceeding.

Evidence: 2022-12-15: legacy

Group structure

Bento Holding Uk Ltd is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Bento Holding Uk Ltd
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
BENTO EXPRESS UK LTD
This company · SC579484

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Bento Holding Uk Ltd
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control14/09/2022
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Jiawei Liuceased 14/09/2022· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control

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

8 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
Incorporated2017-10-20
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC56103 — Take-away food shops and mobile food stands

Registered office

17 Campbell Road
Edinburgh
Midlothian
EH12 6DT
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-18
Last: 2025-10-04

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

ZHANG, Rou
secretary · appointed 2024-03-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LIU, Jiawei
director · ~38y · appointed 2017-10-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (32 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-04
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2024-03-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-06
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2023-08-09
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-08-09
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-08-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-15
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2023-03-02
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-03-02
capital-statement-capital-company-with-date-currency-figure
capital · SH19
2022-12-15
legacy
insolvency · CAP-SS
2022-12-15