HORIZON (CONTRACT DRINKS) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
02614758 · ltd · incorporated 1991-05-28
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 34.1y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 11070
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. 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

1 live charge · oldest 34.1y

65/100
clean up first

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 34.1 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 (83/100)

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
8 officers (3 active, 8 linked, 5 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
15 connected companies via shared directors
90
Filing history
91 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Jul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Average employees3300

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-11-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2021-08-18
    📄
    mortgage-charge-part-both-with-charge-number
    mortgage · MR05
  8. 2021-04-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-04-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-04-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-06-27
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2016-05-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-06-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2012-08-31
    ➕
    STEVENS, David Barry appointed
    director
  17. 2012-07-12
    ➖
    RUNCORN, Terence Robert resigned
    secretary
  18. 2012-07-12
    ➖
    RUNCORN, Terence Robert resigned
    director
  19. 2011-02-23
    ➕
    COOPER, Andrew appointed
    director
  20. 2011-02-23
    ➖
    HAWTHORN, Kenneth John resigned
    director
  21. 2002-04-30
    ➕
    RUNCORN, Terence Robert appointed
    secretary
  22. 2002-04-29
    ➖
    CAMPBELL, Bryan Gordon resigned
    secretary
  23. 1998-09-10
    ➕
    HAWTHORN, Kenneth John appointed
    director
  24. 1998-09-10
    ➕
    RUNCORN, Terence Robert appointed
    director
  25. 1994-04-22
    ➕
    CAMPBELL, Bryan Gordon appointed
    secretary
  26. 1994-04-02
    ➖
    HULL, Dennis Joseph resigned
    secretary
  27. 1992-07-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Midland Bank PLC
  28. 1991-05-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HORIZON (CONTRACT DRINKS) 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
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 35 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Barry John Stevens
Individual · British · DOB 04/1946 · age 80
75–100%
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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1991-05-28
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC11070 — SIC 11070

Registered office

Anchor Brook Business Park
Wharf Approach
Aldridge
West Midlands
WS9 8BX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-11
Last: 2026-05-28

Officers (3 active · 5 resigned)

COOPER, Andrew→
director · ~47y · appointed 2011-02-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STEVENS, Barry John→
director · ~80y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STEVENS, David Barry→
director · ~47y · appointed 2012-08-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CAMPBELL, Bryan Gordon→
secretary · appointed 1994-04-22 · resigned 2002-04-29
Resigned
HULL, Dennis Joseph→
secretary · resigned 1994-04-02
Resigned
RUNCORN, Terence Robert→
secretary · appointed 2002-04-30 · resigned 2012-07-12
Resigned
HAWTHORN, Kenneth John→
director · ~80y · appointed 1998-09-10 · resigned 2011-02-23
Resigned
RUNCORN, Terence Robert→
director · ~63y · appointed 1998-09-10 · resigned 2012-07-12
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Midland Bank
Midland Bank PLC
Fixed and floating charge1 property02/07/1992—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (91 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-26
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-11-23
mortgage-charge-part-both-with-charge-number
mortgage · MR05
2021-08-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-11