A.B.LITTLE & CO(STUBSHAW CROSS)LIMITED
Opportunity 74/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 32.9y
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 32.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsHover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-10-31 | 2024-10-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 8 | 800 |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-07-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-02📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-07-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-04📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2019-04-04📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2019-04-04📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2019-04-04📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2018-10-31➕LITTLE, Matthew appointeddirector
- 2018-10-31➖LITTLE, Carol Sheila resignedsecretary
- 2018-10-31➖LITTLE, Carol Sheila resigneddirector
- 2018-10-31➖LITTLE, John resigneddirector
- 2018-06-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-06-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2011-04-19🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2007-11-30➕LITTLE, Carol Sheila appointedsecretary
- 2007-11-30➖LITTLE, Margaret Cameron resignedsecretary
- 2007-11-30➖LITTLE, Margaret Cameron resigneddirector
- 2004-02-17➕LITTLE, Carol Sheila appointeddirector
- 1993-07-13🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Close Brothers Limited
- 1965-04-29🏢Company incorporatedAs A.B.LITTLE & CO(STUBSHAW CROSS)LIMITED
Owner dependency
The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "LITTLE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
Succession & seller-readiness
Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 61 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
Red flags
cleanGroup structure
Ab Little Holdings Ltd is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.
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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ab Little Holdings Ltd Corporate entity | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
See pricing →Similar companies
Active · Transport & logistics · M postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A2B COURIERS SERVICE LTD→ 16362294 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| A6144 SELF STORAGE LIMITED→ 16309231 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ABB AVIATION LTD→ 10301520 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ABIFOL GLOBAL BUSINESS LTD→ 14463692 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ACK EXPRESS LIMITED→ 14139224 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AD SERVCOM LTD→ 16974469 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADAM MALKI LIMITED→ 15847894 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ADEKIT GLOBAL VENTURE LIMITED→ 13699975 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ADEMO CARE LTD→ 10856612 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ADL LIFESTYLE & CONCIERGE LTD→ 11373394 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ADMIN BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 06132628 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| ADRIAN MITULA TRANSPORT LTD→ 15403475 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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 →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
Registered office
Filing status
Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Close Brothers Close Brothers Limited | Credit agreement | 1 property | 13/07/1993 | 19/04/2011 |