A.J. HAYHURST LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
01385689 · ltd · incorporated 1978-08-25
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 35.8y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Oct 2024
Net worth
£80.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Agents selling agricultural raw materials, live animals, textile raw materials and semi-finished goods
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 71). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 35.8y
65/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 35.8 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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
91 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £80,505
Net assets shrinking
Down £42,445 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£81k
↓ 35% YoY
Current Assets
£107k
↓ 29% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-10-31 | 2023-10-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £80.5k | £123.0k |
| Current assets | £106.5k | £150.4k |
| Net assets | £80.5k | £123.0k |
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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-07-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-07-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-07-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-29📄accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AAMD
- 2016-07-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-09-02📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-07-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-09-05📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-07-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2001-02-05🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1990-07-12🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1978-08-25🏢Company incorporatedAs A.J. HAYHURST LIMITED
Owner dependency
96/100
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.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "HAYHURST" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
76/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
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.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 48 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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
1 active beneficial owner| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Andrew James Hayhurst Individual · English · DOB 06/1955 · age 71 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/06/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1ST STOP PLUMBING LIMITED→ 16557620 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AA STEEL LTD→ 16989543 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ABEDI PHARMACEUTICAL LTD→ 15937139 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ABN CORPORATE LTD→ 13665395 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ACCRINGTON BEEF COMPANY LIMITED→ 02584919 · est 1991 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 35y | — | — |
| ACENTA GROUP LIMITED→ 13468498 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ACERO INTERNATIONAL LTD→ 10830962 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ACORN FABRICS (CUMBRIA) LIMITED→ 00958005 · est 1969 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 56y | — | — |
| ACRONYL LIMITED→ 00886565 · est 1966 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 59y | — | — |
| ADAMAS GEMS LTD→ 15475195 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AEROVANE GLOBAL LTD→ 16639658 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AESTHETICS BY KH LTD→ 14990088 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1978-08-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46110 — Agents selling agricultural raw materials, live animals, textile raw materials and semi-finished goods
Registered office
97 New Park Street
Blackburn
Lancs
BB2 1DF
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-06
Last: 2025-08-23
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
Active
Active
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 05/02/2001 | — | |
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Legal charge | 2 properties | 12/07/1990 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (91 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-10-02