BARTHAM PRESS (WATFORD) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

01787022 · ltd · incorporated 1984-01-30

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 May 2025

Net worth

£303.2k

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 18129

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 57/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 6 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

6 live charges · 6 lenders · oldest 33.3y

15/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 33.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· 6 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
· Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

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

Lenders & charges

6 charges (6/6 with lender, 6/6 with type)

Directors & officers

7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

12 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

111 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Positive net assets

Net assets £303,167

Cash draining

Cash down 79% YoY

Cash YoY

-79%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£7k

↓ 79% YoY

Net Worth

£303k

↑ 7.0% YoY

Current Assets

£465k

↑ 9.9% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Total assets	£549.5k	£538.3k
Current assets	£465.3k	£423.4k
Cash	£7.3k	£35.3k
Debtors	£451.1k	£368.0k
Net assets	£303.2k	£283.4k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (33 events)Click to expand

2026-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-20
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2018-12-20
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2018-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-02-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-02-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-12-18
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2012-09-24
🔒
Charge registered #6
Lender: Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
2012-06-01
➕
KOYES, Shahed Ahmed appointed
director
2012-06-01
➖
KOYES, Mostaque resigned
secretary
2012-06-01
➖
KOYES, Mostaque resigned
director
2007-06-29
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
2007-06-04
➕
LOASBY, Stephen Mark appointed
director
2007-06-04
➖
HAMILTON, Angela Emily Elizabeth resigned
secretary
2007-06-04
➕
KOYES, Mostaque appointed
secretary
2007-06-04
➖
HAMILTON, Angela Emily Elizabeth resigned
director
2007-06-04
➖
HAMILTON, Barry resigned
director
2007-06-04
➕
KOYES, Mostaque appointed
director
2007-06-04
🔒
Charge registered #5
Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
2007-06-04
🔒
Charge registered #4
Lender: Hsbc Asset Finance (UK) Limited & Hsbc Equipment Finance (UK) Limited
2005-05-16
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland Commercial Services Limited (The Security Holder)
1998-06-19
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
1995-09-25
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Close Brothers Limited
1993-04-08
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Yorkshire Bank PLC
1984-01-30
🏢
Company incorporated
As BARTHAM PRESS (WATFORD) 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

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 42 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Stephen Mark Loasby Individual · British · DOB 05/1957 · age 69	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	18/12/2016
Mr Shahed Ahmed Koyes Individual · British · DOB 12/1980 · age 46	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	18/12/2016

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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CAREWJONES.CO.UK LTD→ 07848755 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
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CASCODE LTD→ 13746621 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
CATLEY TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED→ 10872217 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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

Incorporated1984-01-30

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC18129 — SIC 18129

Registered office

Unit A Park Avenue Estate

Sundon Park

Luton

Bedfordshire

LU3 3BP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-01

Last: 2025-12-18

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

KOYES, Shahed Ahmed→

director · ~46y · appointed 2012-06-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

LOASBY, Stephen Mark→

director · ~69y · appointed 2007-06-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HAMILTON, Angela Emily Elizabeth→

secretary · resigned 2007-06-04

Resigned

KOYES, Mostaque→

secretary · appointed 2007-06-04 · resigned 2012-06-01

Resigned

HAMILTON, Angela Emily Elizabeth→

director · ~83y · resigned 2007-06-04

Resigned

HAMILTON, Barry→

director · ~84y · resigned 2007-06-04

Resigned

KOYES, Mostaque→

director · ~44y · appointed 2007-06-04 · resigned 2012-06-01

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:6 of 6 shown

		Type	Properties
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited	All assets debenture	1 property	24/09/2012	—
outstanding	HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	04/06/2007	—
outstanding	HSBC Hsbc Asset Finance (UK) Limited & Hsbc Equipment Finance (UK) Limited	Chattels mortgage	1 property	04/06/2007	—
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland Commercial Services Limited (The Security Holder)	Fixed and floating charge	1 property	16/05/2005	—
satisfied	Close Brothers Close Brothers Limited	Chattel mortgage	2 properties	25/09/1995	29/06/2007
satisfied	Virgin Money Yorkshire Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	08/04/1993	19/06/1998

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.