KEN. RATCLIFFE & SON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
00359581 · ltd · incorporated 1940-02-29
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 38.2y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46730
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (78/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 38.2y

50/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 38.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
95 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees19001800

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 (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-11-26
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-11-12
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  4. 2025-08-27
    ➖
    RATCLIFFE, Jessica Gertrude resigned
    secretary
  5. 2024-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-01-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-05-06
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-04-17
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2014-08-11
    ➕
    RATCLIFFE, Matthew Charles appointed
    director
  18. 2013-05-11
    ➖
    RATCLIFFE, Kenneth Charles resigned
    director
  19. 2011-11-05
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  20. 2011-11-05
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  21. 2008-12-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  22. 1999-11-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  23. 1988-03-31
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  24. 1940-02-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As KEN. RATCLIFFE & SON LIMITED

Owner dependency

96/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "RATCLIFFE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

81/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 86 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

1 med ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Phillip Ratcliffe
Individual · British · DOB 07/1953 · age 73
50–75%
—50-75% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated1940-02-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46730 — SIC 46730

Registered office

27 Stone Street
Llandovery
Carmarthenshire
SA20 0BZ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-02
Last: 2026-03-19

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

RATCLIFFE, Matthew Charles→
director · ~50y · appointed 2014-08-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RATCLIFFE, Phillip→
director · ~73y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RATCLIFFE, Jessica Gertrude→
secretary · resigned 2025-08-27
Resigned
RATCLIFFE, Kenneth Charles→
director · ~101y · resigned 2013-05-11
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

3
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property22/12/2008—
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage2 properties03/11/199905/11/2011
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage3 properties31/03/198805/11/2011
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (95 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-28
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-11-26
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-11-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-06