ARP-CO. LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
01491886 · ltd · incorporated 1980-04-18
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 40.6y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
year to Mar 2026
Net worth
£230.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 81-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 81). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 40.6y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 40.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

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
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
95 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 declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £229,955
Net assets shrinking
Down £5,012 YoY
Cash YoY
-5%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£113k
↓ 5.1% YoY
Net Worth
£230k
↓ 2.1% YoY
Current Assets
£395k
↑ 1.6% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£79k£158k£237k£316k£395kMar 2025Mar 2026

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2026-03-312025-03-31
Total assets£230.0k£235.0k
Current assets£395.3k£388.9k
Cash£113.0k£119.1k
Debtors£202.8k£181.8k
Net assets£230.0k£235.0k

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-07-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-10-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-10-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-10-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-10-03
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  10. 2018-09-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-10-02
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2017-10-02
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2017-08-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2013-10-17
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  16. 1986-01-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
  17. 1980-04-18
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARP-CO. LIMITED

Owner dependency

81/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 81 — 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 candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 81 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 46 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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 Anthony Keith Millard
Individual · British · DOB 08/1945 · age 81
5075%
50-75% shares01/04/2017
Mrs Margaret Anne Millard
Individual · British · DOB 06/1954 · age 72
sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Margaret Anne Millardceased 30/09/2017· significant influence

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Incorporated1980-04-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade

Registered office

Unit 2
International Trading Est
Third Way
Avonmouth Bristol
BS11 9HU

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-12-31
Last made up to: 2026-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-13
Last: 2025-09-29

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

MILLARD, Margaret Anne
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MILLARD, Anthony Keith
director · ~81y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MILLARD, Margaret Anne
director · ~72y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank PLC
Single debenture1 property03/01/198617/10/2013

Recent filings (95 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-07-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-08