ALAN SYMONDS & COMPANY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
01449100 · ltd · incorporated 1979-09-18
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 36.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46160
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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

4 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 36.9y

50/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 36.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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
4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (4 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)
84
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
127 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£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees6500

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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 (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-08-16
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2021-08-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2021-08-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2021-03-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-12-22
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  11. 2019-08-02
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  12. 2019-07-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-09-30
    ➕
    SYMONDS, Catherine Louise appointed
    director
  17. 2011-03-29
    ➖
    SYMONDS, Alan resigned
    director
  18. 2010-01-08
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  19. 2009-09-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  20. 2009-09-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  21. 2003-08-26
    ➕
    WARBY, Ian Paul appointed
    director
  22. 2000-03-31
    ➕
    WARBY, Ian Paul appointed
    secretary
  23. 2000-03-31
    ➖
    SYMONDS, June Ann resigned
    secretary
  24. 2000-03-31
    ➖
    SYMONDS, June Ann resigned
    director
  25. 1997-02-25
    ➕
    SYMONDS, Ian appointed
    director
  26. 1994-06-10
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  27. 1989-10-04
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  28. 1989-08-07
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  29. 1979-09-18
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ALAN SYMONDS & COMPANY LIMITED

Owner dependency

91/100
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
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "SYMONDS" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 47 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 Ian Symonds
Individual · British · DOB 02/1973 · age 53
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mr Alan Symonds
Individual · British · DOB 08/1948 · age 78
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting11/07/2019

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 →

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

6 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
Incorporated1979-09-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46160 — SIC 46160

Registered office

Westminster House
Bakewell Road Orton Southgate
Peterborough
Cambridgeshire
PE2 6WA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-13
Last: 2025-10-30

Officers (4 active · 3 resigned)

WARBY, Ian Paul→
secretary · appointed 2000-03-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SYMONDS, Catherine Louise→
director · ~53y · appointed 2015-09-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SYMONDS, Ian→
director · ~53y · appointed 1997-02-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WARBY, Ian Paul→
director · ~60y · appointed 2003-08-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SYMONDS, June Ann→
secretary · resigned 2000-03-31
Resigned
SYMONDS, Alan→
director · ~78y · resigned 2011-03-29
Resigned
SYMONDS, June Ann→
director · ~79y · resigned 2000-03-31
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

4
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
Deposit agreement1 property19/09/2009—
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
Debenture1 property15/09/2009—
satisfied
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Debenture1 property10/06/199408/01/2010
satisfied
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property07/08/198904/10/1989
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (127 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-08-16
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-08-16
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-08-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-19
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2020-12-22