THE HEATHERSLAW LIGHT RAILWAY CO LTD

🌳Matureactive
02257080 · ltd · incorporated 1988-05-12
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 36.5y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£118.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
83/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 79). 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 36.5y

50/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 36.5 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: high (81/100)

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
8 officers (4 active, 8 linked, 6 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
113 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £118,014
Net assets shrinking
Down £18,093 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£118k
↓ 13% YoY
Current Assets
£47k
↓ 33% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£27k£54k£82k£109k£136kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£133.0k£160.1k
Current assets£46.6k£70.0k
Net assets£118.0k£136.1k

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

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 (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-06-01
    ➕
    SMITH, Christine Mary appointed
    secretary
  6. 2022-06-01
    ➖
    SMITH, Doris Bernice resigned
    secretary
  7. 2022-06-01
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  8. 2022-06-01
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  9. 2022-03-21
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  10. 2022-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-11-16
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  12. 2021-11-11
    ➕
    REDFEARN, John Martyn appointed
    director
  13. 2021-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2021-04-21
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  15. 2021-04-14
    ➖
    SMITH, Paul Andrew resigned
    director
  16. 2020-12-01
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  17. 2020-12-01
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  18. 2020-11-24
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  19. 2020-11-24
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  20. 2020-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  21. 2013-04-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Christine Smith
  22. 2009-04-21
    ➕
    SMITH, Darrell Stephen appointed
    director
  23. 2009-04-21
    ➕
    SMITH, Paul Andrew appointed
    director
  24. 2009-02-11
    ➖
    SMITH, Neville Clifford resigned
    director
  25. 1993-06-15
    ➖
    HAMILTON, Anne Pamela resigned
    director
  26. 1989-12-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  27. 1988-05-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE HEATHERSLAW LIGHT RAILWAY CO LTD

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material 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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.

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 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 38 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 Darrell Stephen Smith
Individual · British · DOB 12/1962 · age 64
25–50%
—25-50% shares01/06/2020
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Paul Andrew Smithceased 31/05/2020· significant influence

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
Incorporated1988-05-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Ford Forge
Heatherslaw
Cornhill- On- Tweed
Northumberland.
TD12 4TJ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-05
Last: 2026-04-21

Officers (4 active · 4 resigned)

SMITH, Christine Mary→
secretary · appointed 2022-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORD, Sydney James→
director · ~79y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
REDFEARN, John Martyn→
director · ~65y · appointed 2021-11-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Darrell Stephen→
director · ~64y · appointed 2009-04-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Doris Bernice→
secretary · resigned 2022-06-01
Resigned
HAMILTON, Anne Pamela→
director · ~78y · resigned 1993-06-15
Resigned
SMITH, Neville Clifford→
director · ~87y · resigned 2009-02-11
Resigned
SMITH, Paul Andrew→
director · ~62y · appointed 2009-04-21 · resigned 2021-04-14
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Christine Smith
Debenture1 property01/04/2013—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Debenture1 property08/12/1989—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (113 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-29
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2022-06-01
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2022-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-21
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2022-03-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-21
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-11-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-22