COGSWELL & HARRISON (GUNMAKERS) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
01638115 · ltd · incorporated 1982-05-26
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£-85
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 78). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
10 officers (4 active, 10 linked, 7 with DOB)
84
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
115 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £85
Net assets shrinking
Down £1,346 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£85
↓ 107% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
-£85£413£911£1k£2k£2kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets—£2.4k
Current assets—£2.4k
Net assets£-85£1.3k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 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. 2025-07-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-04-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-03-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-08-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-04-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-03-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-03-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-12-09
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-12-08
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  13. 2015-12-08
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2015-12-08
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2015-12-08
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2009-09-10
    ➕
    BRENNAN, Rachael appointed
    secretary
  17. 2009-09-10
    ➕
    BRENNAN, David appointed
    director
  18. 2009-09-10
    ➕
    BRENNAN, Martin appointed
    director
  19. 2009-09-10
    ➕
    BRENNAN, Rachael appointed
    director
  20. 2009-09-10
    ➖
    COOLEY, Michael Joseph Edward, Professor resigned
    secretary
  21. 2009-09-10
    ➖
    COOLEY, Michael Joseph Edward, Professor resigned
    director
  22. 2009-09-10
    ➖
    COOLEY, Shirley May resigned
    director
  23. 1993-05-07
    ➖
    BAXTER, Alastair Anthony resigned
    secretary
  24. 1993-05-07
    ➕
    COOLEY, Michael Joseph Edward, Professor appointed
    secretary
  25. 1993-05-07
    ➖
    BAXTER, Alastair Anthony resigned
    director
  26. 1993-05-07
    ➖
    BAXTER, Bridget Elizabeth Caroline resigned
    director
  27. 1993-05-07
    ➕
    COOLEY, Michael Joseph Edward, Professor appointed
    director
  28. 1993-05-07
    ➕
    COOLEY, Shirley May appointed
    director
  29. 1982-05-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COGSWELL & HARRISON (GUNMAKERS) LIMITED

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

83/100
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 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 44 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

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David Patrick Brennan
Individual · Irish · DOB 10/1948 · age 78
50–75%
—50-75% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated1982-05-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Registered office

Stable Yard
Hatfield Park
Hatfield
Hertfordshire
AL9 5NQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-14
Last: 2025-11-30

Officers (4 active · 6 resigned)

BRENNAN, Rachael→
secretary · appointed 2009-09-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRENNAN, David→
director · ~78y · appointed 2009-09-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRENNAN, Martin→
director · ~47y · appointed 2009-09-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRENNAN, Rachael→
director · ~51y · appointed 2009-09-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BAXTER, Alastair Anthony→
secretary · resigned 1993-05-07
Resigned
COOLEY, Michael Joseph Edward, Professor→
secretary · appointed 1993-05-07 · resigned 2009-09-10
Resigned
BAXTER, Alastair Anthony→
director · ~78y · resigned 1993-05-07
Resigned
BAXTER, Bridget Elizabeth Caroline→
director · ~82y · resigned 1993-05-07
Resigned
COOLEY, Michael Joseph Edward, Professor→
director · ~92y · appointed 1993-05-07 · resigned 2009-09-10
Resigned
COOLEY, Shirley May→
director · ~93y · appointed 1993-05-07 · resigned 2009-09-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (115 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-12-11