AXLE MUSIC LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
01156865 · ltd · incorporated 1974-01-14
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
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
- · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Sound recording and music publishing activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 71). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
105 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 200 | 200 |
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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-26📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2025-09-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-22📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2024-12-12📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2024-12-11➕SHORTEN, Benjamin Joseph appointeddirector
- 2024-11-19📄second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-dateconfirmation-statement · RP04CS01
- 2024-11-19📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-11-18📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-11-18📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-11-18📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-11-18📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-11-18📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-11-15📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-11-14📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2024-09-24➖HOWARD, Kenneth Charles resigneddirector
- 2024-07-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-29📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-09-29📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-09-28📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-09-27➕HONER, Thomas Christopher appointeddirector
- 2023-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-26📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-07-26📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2022-10-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-04➖BLAIKLEY, Alan Tudor resignedsecretary
- 2022-07-04➖BLAIKLEY, Alan Tudor resigneddirector
- 1974-01-14🏢Company incorporatedAs AXLE MUSIC LIMITED
Owner dependency
73/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
66/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 71 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
Red flags
1 lowMultiple registered office changes
lowMultiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Benjamin Joseph Shorten Individual · Irish · DOB 06/1955 · age 71 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 24/09/2025 |
Thomas Christopher Honer Individual · British · DOB 05/1977 · age 49 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 26/05/2023 |
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
- Mr Kenneth Charles Howardceased 24/09/2024· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
- Alan Tudor Blaikleyceased 04/07/2022· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
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 →Similar companies
Active · Technology · AL postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATHENA BDA LTD→ 15477746 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ATOTA NETWORKS LTD→ 04390493 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| ATWISE LTD→ 14851159 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AUGUST TECHNOLOGIES LTD→ 14260300 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AUSTIN CREATIVE CONSULTANCY LTD→ 15931049 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AUTO SCRIPTS INTEGRATION LIMITED→ 13454656 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| AVANZA LTD→ 10209814 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| AVERIS TECHNOLOGIES LTD→ 16922116 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AWAKE AT THREE LTD→ 07423775 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| AWH SCENERY LTD→ 10932709 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AYUSTECH LIMITED→ 16726522 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AZAMOUR ONLINE LIMITED→ 06901057 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1974-01-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC59200 — Sound recording and music publishing activities
Registered office
28 Vicarage Gardens
Flamstead
St. Albans
Herts
AL3 8EF
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-17
Last: 2025-11-03
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
HONER, Thomas Christopher→
Activedirector · ~49y · appointed 2023-09-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SHORTEN, Benjamin Joseph→
Activedirector · ~71y · appointed 2024-12-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BLAIKLEY, Alan Tudor→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 2022-07-04
BLAIKLEY, Alan Tudor→
Resigneddirector · ~86y · resigned 2022-07-04
HOWARD, Kenneth Charles→
Resigneddirector · ~87y · resigned 2024-09-24
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (105 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-05
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-09-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-11
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-01-22
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-12-12
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2024-11-19
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-11-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-11-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-11-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-11-18
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-11-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-11-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-11-15
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-11-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-14