APEX CRANES AND SERVICE LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
01904924 · ltd · incorporated 1985-04-15
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 40.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
83/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 80). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 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
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 40.9y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 40.9 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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (4 active, 7 linked, 5 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
103 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
83/100Exceptional
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
85
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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-02-12📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-02-12📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2023-12-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-01📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2021-11-30📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2020-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-01-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2010-11-24🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2010-11-03🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
- 2008-07-01➕BANNER, Matthew Lionel appointeddirector
- 2008-07-01➖BARNSLEY, David John resigneddirector
- 2000-06-10➖BANNER, Lionel Frederick resigneddirector
- 1994-10-12➕SLIMM, John William appointedsecretary
- 1994-10-12➖JAMES, Samuel resignedsecretary
- 1992-07-01➕SATCHWELL, James Dennis appointeddirector
- 1992-07-01➕SLIMM, John William appointeddirector
- 1985-06-28🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1985-04-15🏢Company incorporatedAs APEX CRANES AND SERVICE LIMITED
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 34 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
90/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 34 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 41 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Group structure
J Barnsley Cranes Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.
🏛️ultimate parent
J Barnsley Cranes Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
⬇
APEX CRANES AND SERVICE LIMITED
This company · 01904924
Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).
Shareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
J Barnsley Cranes Limited Corporate entity | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 14/09/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Other · DY postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06673324 LIMITED→ 06673324 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| 3-FE LIMITED→ 11505092 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| A1 LIFTS LIMITED→ 16983963 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AA GROUP FACILITIES LTD→ 12048905 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| AFRICAN CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY NETWORK (ACCN)→ 07369831 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| AIMTRU BRANDS LIMITED→ 14131345 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ALLIANCE FOR CARE LTD→ 11382888 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ALLIANCE OF PRIVATE SECTOR PRACTITIONERS LIMITED→ 04379814 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| AMBLECOTE COMMUNITY CHURCH→ 07005276 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| ANGLESEY BAIT COMPANY LIMITED→ 05364417 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| ANNE WESTWOOD CONSULTING LTD→ 10554982 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| APG LIMITED→ 02005270 · est 1986 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 40y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1985-04-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999
Registered office
Units 1 Wallows Industrial Estate
Fens Pool Avenue
Brierley Hill
West Midlands
DY5 1QA
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-28
Last: 2025-09-14
Officers (4 active · 3 resigned)
SLIMM, John William→
Activesecretary · appointed 1994-10-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BANNER, Matthew Lionel→
Activedirector · ~58y · appointed 2008-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SATCHWELL, James Dennis→
Activedirector · ~80y · appointed 1992-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SLIMM, John William→
Activedirector · ~62y · appointed 1992-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
JAMES, Samuel→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 1994-10-12
BANNER, Lionel Frederick→
Resigneddirector · ~96y · resigned 2000-06-10
BARNSLEY, David John→
Resigneddirector · ~85y · resigned 2008-07-01
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 03/11/2010 | — | |
| satisfied | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 28/06/1985 | 24/11/2010 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (103 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-02-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-02-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-16
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2021-12-01
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2021-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-12-18