APPLETON & GREEN LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
01188313 · ltd · incorporated 1974-10-24
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 21.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Non-life insurance
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). 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: strategic trade sale (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 21.3y
65/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 21.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)
84
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
101 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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-05-31 | 2024-05-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 600 | 600 |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
- 2026-01-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-02-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-01-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-02-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-02📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2016-02-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-09-02📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-03-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2008-06-18➕BOWDEN, Brian appointedsecretary
- 2008-06-18➕BOWDEN, Brian appointeddirector
- 2008-06-18➖GREEN, Olive Mary resignedsecretary
- 2008-06-18➖GREEN, Michael Hubert resigneddirector
- 2008-06-18➖GREEN, Olive Mary resigneddirector
- 2007-09-30➖GREEN, John Hubert resigneddirector
- 2005-02-08🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
- 1998-04-06➕SLATER, Philip Laurence appointeddirector
- 1974-10-24🏢Company incorporatedAs APPLETON & GREEN LIMITED
Owner dependency
83/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 52 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
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Brian Bowden Individual · British · DOB 11/1957 · age 69 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Philip Laurence Slater Individual · British · DOB 02/1968 · age 58 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB HUB SERVICES LTD→ 14758378 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ABCS2 HOLDINGS LTD→ 10411855 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ALGREAT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→ 07013508 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| AMG FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 05194334 · est 2004 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| AMQAS PROPERTY GROUP LTD→ 16752332 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| APF RENOVATIONS LIMITED→ 17080617 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| APF SPV 1 LIMITED→ 16271194 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AR FINANCIAL & PAYROLL SERVICES LIMITED→ 09127239 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ARCHIE JOHN FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LTD→ 11581960 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ARCHIE JOHN LTD→ 07693377 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| ARDENT ENDEAVOURS LTD→ 12484080 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ARHAM MANAGEMENT LTD→ 12622277 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1974-10-24
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC65120 — Non-life insurance
Registered office
Insurance House
345 Wellington Road North
Heaton Chapel
Stockport
SK4 4QG
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-15
Last: 2025-09-01
Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)
Active
BOWDEN, Brian→
Activedirector · ~69y · appointed 2008-06-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SLATER, Philip Laurence→
Activedirector · ~58y · appointed 1998-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
GREEN, Olive Mary→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 2008-06-18
GREEN, John Hubert→
Resigneddirector · ~109y · resigned 2007-09-30
GREEN, Michael Hubert→
Resigneddirector · ~68y · resigned 2008-06-18
GREEN, Olive Mary→
Resigneddirector · ~104y · resigned 2008-06-18
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 08/02/2005 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (101 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-01-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-11-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-03-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-02-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-02-17