ARBORDEM LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
01659036 · ltd · incorporated 1982-08-18
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
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£2.91M
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale in non-specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (80/100, director aged 61). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 5 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

9 live charges · 5 lenders · oldest 40.7y

35/100
too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

  • · Oldest live charge is 40.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 5 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Legal-friction score 35/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
9 charges (9/9 with lender, 9/9 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 4 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
119 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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
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 £2,914,772
Cash YoY
-7%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£435k
↓ 7.5% YoY
Net Worth
£2.9m
↑ 1.2% YoY
Current Assets
£2.5m
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£583k£1.2m£1.7m£2.3m£2.9mMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£2.94M£2.92M
Current assets£2.46M£2.49M
Cash£435.2k£470.2k
Debtors£1.52M£1.47M
Net assets£2.91M£2.88M

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 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (38 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-13
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  2. 2025-11-13
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  3. 2025-11-13
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #9
  4. 2025-11-13
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #8
  5. 2025-10-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2025-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2025-03-17
    📄
    legacy
    miscellaneous · ANNOTATION
  8. 2023-10-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-12-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-07-15
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-new-address
    address · AD02
  14. 2018-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-01-21
    ➖
    ASHBY, Eileen resigned
    director
  18. 2015-09-29
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #7
  19. 2015-09-29
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #6
  20. 2015-09-29
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  21. 2011-12-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #5
  22. 2011-12-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #4
  23. 2011-12-06
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  24. 2000-12-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #9
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  25. 2000-12-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #8
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  26. 2000-06-30
    ➕
    ASHBY, Megan Louise appointed
    secretary
  27. 2000-06-30
    ➖
    ASHBY, Eileen resigned
    secretary
  28. 1999-04-06
    ➕
    ASHBY, Mark Stephen appointed
    director
  29. 1996-12-10
    ➕
    ASHBY, Megan Louise appointed
    director
  30. 1996-12-10
    ➖
    ASHBY, Mark Stephen resigned
    director
  31. 1992-02-21
    🔒
    Charge registered #7
    Lender: Alexander Duckham & Co Limited
  32. 1991-11-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #6
    Lender: Bp Oil UK Limited
  33. 1991-11-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
  34. 1987-11-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
  35. 1987-11-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
  36. 1987-01-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
  37. 1985-10-21
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lewis Edwin Friend.
  38. 1982-08-18
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARBORDEM LIMITED

Owner dependency

84/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +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
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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

1 med ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Mark Stephen Ashby
Individual · British · DOB 05/1965 · age 61
50–75%
—sig. influence50-75% shares · significant influence02/07/2016
Mrs Megan Louise Ashby
Individual · British · DOB 07/1966 · age 60
25–50%
—sig. influence25-50% shares · significant influence02/07/2016

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

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
Incorporated1982-08-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47190 — Other retail sale in non-specialised stores

Registered office

Ashby's Easy Stores
East Charleton
Kingsbridge
Devon
TQ7 2AP

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-07-16
Last: 2026-07-02

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

ASHBY, Megan Louise→
secretary · appointed 2000-06-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASHBY, Mark Stephen→
director · ~61y · appointed 1999-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASHBY, Megan Louise→
director · ~60y · appointed 1996-12-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASHBY, Eileen→
secretary · resigned 2000-06-30
Resigned
ASHBY, Eileen→
director · ~85y · resigned 2016-01-21
Resigned
ASHBY, Mark Stephen→
director · ~61y · resigned 1996-12-10
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

9
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:9 of 9 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property11/12/200013/11/2025
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Mortgage debenture1 property11/12/200013/11/2025
satisfied
Alexander Duckham & Co
Alexander Duckham & Co Limited
Agreement for loan1 property21/02/199229/09/2015
satisfied
Bp Oil UK
Bp Oil UK Limited
Legal charge1 property15/11/199129/09/2015
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank PLC
Single debenture1 property15/11/199106/12/2011
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank PLC
Second floating charge1 property18/11/198706/12/2011
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank PLC
Floating charge1 property18/11/198706/12/2011
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property02/01/198729/09/2015
outstanding
Lewis Edwin Friend.
Legal charge1 property21/10/1985—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (119 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-07-07
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2025-11-13
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2025-11-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-21
legacy
miscellaneous · ANNOTATION
2025-03-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-04