ASTONSTAR LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
02514281 · ltd · incorporated 1990-06-21
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 35.2y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£1.23M
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 79). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 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 · oldest 35.2y
65/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 35.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 25/100 — 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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (4 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
87 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
75
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 declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £1,234,018
Cash YoY
+10%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£1.0m
↑ 10% YoY
Net Worth
£1.2m
↑ 3.8% YoY
Current Assets
£1.4m
↑ 5.8% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £1.24M | £1.19M |
| Current assets | £1.39M | £1.32M |
| Cash | £1.01M | £921.7k |
| Debtors | £215.3k | £232.0k |
| Net assets | £1.23M | £1.19M |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-22📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-06-22📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2023-06-22📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-06-22📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-04-22📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2023-04-14📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2023-03-28📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-03-28📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2023-03-24➕BAKER, Colin appointeddirector
- 2022-12-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 1993-05-07🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Midland Bank PLC
- 1991-03-15🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Midland Bank PLC
- 1990-06-21🏢Company incorporatedAs ASTONSTAR LIMITED
Owner dependency
73/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
70/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 36 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
Red flags
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
3 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Colin Baker Individual · British · DOB 07/1971 · age 55 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 24/03/2023 |
Mrs Christina Maria Baker Individual · British · DOB 06/1948 · age 78 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 24/03/2023 |
Mr John William Baker Individual · British · DOB 02/1947 · age 79 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Ms Christina Maria Bakerceased 24/02/2023· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
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 · Wholesale & distribution · ME postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACTIONPOINT ONLINE LTD→ 12516460 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| AFRISALE DISTRIBUTORS LTD→ 16806188 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AGRI PARTS AND ACCESSORIES LIMITED→ 09668524 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| ALMOND SAVE LIMITED→ 11697231 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AMYGO LTD→ 14948000 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ANGEL CREATIONS INTERNATIONAL LTD→ 11542582 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AR INSPIRED LTD→ 05344798 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| ARTJOM OS LTD→ 13662117 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ASI AUTOMATION LTD→ 11046071 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ASSOULINE EQUINE SERVICES LIMITED→ 04584070 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| ASTS TRANSPORT LTD→ 13393803 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ASTUS LEATHERWORKS LTD→ 16867356 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated1990-06-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade
Registered office
3 Manor Road
Chatham
Kent
Me4 6ae
ME4 6AE
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-05
Last: 2025-06-21
Officers (4 active · 0 resigned)
Active
Active
BAKER, Colin→
Activedirector · ~55y · appointed 2023-03-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Midland Bank Midland Bank PLC | Charge | 2 properties | 07/05/1993 | — | |
| outstanding | Midland Bank Midland Bank PLC | Fixed and floating charge | 1 property | 15/03/1991 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (87 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-06-22
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-06-22
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-06-22
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-06-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-22
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2023-04-22
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2023-04-14
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-03-28
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2023-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-16