A.J.WILLSON & SONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
00466823 · ltd · incorporated 1949-04-05
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
not disclosed
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
62/100
Worth a look
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 4521
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 62/100 (worth a look), bankability 30/100. Strong seller-intent signal (78/100, director aged 80). Asset purchase likely safer than share purchase given structural signals. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (30/100). Current lenders should be on monthly review.

Data confidence

Overall: low (45/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
9 officers (3 active, 9 linked, 5 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
2 filings — limited history
30
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
62/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
35
Concerning — overdue filings or status flags present.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
59
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (14 events)Click to expand
  1. 2022-07-08
    📄
    restoration-order-of-court
    restoration · AC92
  2. 1999-04-28
    BRENT REGISTRARS appointed
    corporate-secretary
  3. 1999-04-28
    BROOKS, Norman James resigned
    secretary
  4. 1999-01-25
    BURROW, Rosalyn Ann appointed
    director
  5. 1998-02-28
    BURROW, Richard Adam resigned
    director
  6. 1995-04-12
    BROOKS, Norman James appointed
    secretary
  7. 1995-04-12
    HEMMINGS, Martin David resigned
    secretary
  8. 1995-04-12
    HEMMINGS, Martin David resigned
    director
  9. 1993-06-19
    BURROW, Alice Mary resigned
    secretary
  10. 1993-06-19
    HEMMINGS, Martin David appointed
    secretary
  11. 1992-07-04
    HEMMINGS, Martin David appointed
    director
  12. 1992-03-31
    BRAKESPEAR, David James resigned
    director
  13. 1987-01-01
    📄
    selection-of-documents-registered-before-January-1987
    historical · PRE87
  14. 1949-04-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A.J.WILLSON & SONS LIMITED

Owner dependency

91/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

91/100
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 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 77 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 high · 1 med ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2002-01-31

Has insolvency history
medium

Companies House flags prior insolvency events. Review the insolvency filings for context.

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

10 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.

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🔒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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1949-04-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC4521 — SIC 4521

Registered office

Delaport Coach House
Lamer Lane
Wheathampstead
Hertfordshire
AL4 8RQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2002-01-31OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2000-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due:
Last:

Officers (3 active · 6 resigned)

BRENT REGISTRARS
corporate-secretary · appointed 1999-04-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BURROW, Adrian Richard
director · ~76y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BURROW, Rosalyn Ann
director · ~80y · appointed 1999-01-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BROOKS, Norman James
secretary · appointed 1995-04-12 · resigned 1999-04-28
Resigned
BURROW, Alice Mary
secretary · resigned 1993-06-19
Resigned
HEMMINGS, Martin David
secretary · appointed 1993-06-19 · resigned 1995-04-12
Resigned
BRAKESPEAR, David James
director · ~87y · resigned 1992-03-31
Resigned
BURROW, Richard Adam
director · ~110y · resigned 1998-02-28
Resigned
HEMMINGS, Martin David
director · ~80y · appointed 1992-07-04 · resigned 1995-04-12
Resigned

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

Recent filings (2 total)

restoration-order-of-court
restoration · AC92
2022-07-08
selection-of-documents-registered-before-January-1987
historical · PRE87
1987-01-01