GEORGE WHITTAKER AND SONS (KNUTSFORD) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
00516114 · ltd · incorporated 1953-02-14
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
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 38210
Sector: Water supply & waste
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 88-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 88). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 3 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 · oldest 34.4y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 34.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (2 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
100 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
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 employees300300

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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-28
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  3. 2025-03-28
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2024-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-06-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-07-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2023-05-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-03-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-03-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-03-06
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  12. 2019-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-03-05
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  14. 2018-12-24
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  15. 2018-12-18
    ➖
    WHITTAKER, John resigned
    director
  16. 2018-03-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-03-07
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  18. 1999-03-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  19. 1999-02-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  20. 1992-02-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  21. 1983-09-30
    ➕
    WHITTAKER, Evelyn Mary appointed
    director
  22. 1953-02-15
    ➕
    WHITTAKER, John appointed
    director
  23. 1953-02-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As GEORGE WHITTAKER AND SONS (KNUTSFORD) LIMITED

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "WHITTAKER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 43 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 88 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 88 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 43 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 73 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

clean
No 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stuart Alan Whittaker
Individual · British · DOB 07/1963 · age 63
50–75%
—50-75% shares06/04/2016
Mrs Evelyn Mary Whittaker
Individual · British · DOB 10/1938 · age 88
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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

9 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
Incorporated1953-02-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC38210 — SIC 38210

Registered office

Windrush
Tabley Road
Knutsford
Cheshire
WA16 0NE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-13
Last: 2025-12-30

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

WHITTAKER, Evelyn Mary→
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WHITTAKER, Evelyn Mary→
director · ~88y · appointed 1983-09-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WHITTAKER, John→
director · ~94y · appointed 1953-02-15 · resigned 2018-12-18
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

3
Total charges
3
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property02/03/1999—
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage2 properties02/02/1999—
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Mortgage debenture1 property18/02/1992—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (100 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-12-30
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-03-28
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-06-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-09
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-02