A BAMFORD TRADING COMPANY LTD.

🌳Matureactive
02539100 · ltd · incorporated 1990-09-12
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
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
not disclosed
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-trading company
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Dormant / non-trading with a 81-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 81). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (61/100)

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
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 5 with DOB)
87
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
20 connected companies via shared directors
90
Filing history
98 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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-04-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-07-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-05-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-03-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-09-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-07-09
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2017-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-06-29
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  12. 2016-10-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-06-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-10-07
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-07-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-10-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2006-03-06
    LEADBEATER, Edward Timothy David resigned
    director
  18. 1998-02-09
    COYNE, Martin resigned
    director
  19. 1994-02-22
    COYNE, Martin appointed
    director
  20. 1994-02-22
    MELLOR, Raymond Alan resigned
    director
  21. 1991-12-19
    OVENS, Steven Ernest Robert appointed
    director
  22. 1991-12-19
    MELLOR, Raymond Alan appointed
    director
  23. 1990-09-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A BAMFORD TRADING COMPANY LTD.

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 34 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 81 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 81 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 34 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 36 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.)

Group structure

J C Bamford Excavators Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
J C Bamford Excavators Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
A BAMFORD TRADING COMPANY LTD.
This company · 02539100

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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
J C Bamford Excavators Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1990-09-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC74990 — Non-trading company

Registered office

Lakeside Works
Rocester
Uttoxeter
Staffordshire
ST14 5JP

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-14
Last: 2025-06-30

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

OVENS, Steven Ernest Robert
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BAMFORD DL, The Lord
director · ~81y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OVENS, Steven Ernest Robert
director · ~74y · appointed 1991-12-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COYNE, Martin
director · ~86y · appointed 1994-02-22 · resigned 1998-02-09
Resigned
LEADBEATER, Edward Timothy David
director · ~82y · resigned 2006-03-06
Resigned
MELLOR, Raymond Alan
director · ~79y · appointed 1991-12-19 · resigned 1994-02-22
Resigned

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

Recent filings (98 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-04-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-09-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-07-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-05-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-09-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-08-21