PORTAFIX LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
02788817 · ltd · incorporated 1993-02-10
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 32.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Feb 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
83/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 69). 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 32.0y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 32.0 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
9 officers (5 active, 9 linked, 6 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
102 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 | 2025-02-28 | 2024-02-29 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 4200 | 3900 |
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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (31 events)Click to expand
- 2025-07-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-13📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2022-07-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-10📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-02-10📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-02-10📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-02-10📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-06-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2019-11-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-22📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2017-11-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-smallaccounts · AA
- 2010-01-22➕BLACK, Andrew Donald Russell appointeddirector
- 2010-01-22➕BLACK, Rebecca appointeddirector
- 2010-01-22➖EMERSON, Adrian resigneddirector
- 2010-01-22➖EMERSON, Monica resigneddirector
- 2002-09-18🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2002-08-19🔒Charge registered #2Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2002-04-10➕EMERSON, Andrew Robin Christopher appointeddirector
- 2002-04-10➕EMERSON, Mark appointeddirector
- 1994-07-07🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1994-02-10➖INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
- 1993-02-12➕EMERSON, Mark appointedsecretary
- 1993-02-12➕EMERSON, Monica appointeddirector
- 1993-02-10🏢Company incorporatedAs PORTAFIX LIMITED
- 1993-02-10➕SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1993-02-10➖SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1993-02-10➕INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
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
- -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
80/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 33 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.)
Shareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Andrew Donald Russell Black Individual · British · DOB 06/1957 · age 69 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · firm interest | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Wholesale & distribution · SP postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOWICKS COMMUNITY LTD→ 14901511 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| MANOR Q SOURCING LTD→ 16884310 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| MATTERMOON LTD→ 15977532 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| NOVA PROCUREMENT LTD→ 16270065 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| PANCHAEA LTD→ 12522865 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| PETER CHARLES EQUESTRIAN LIMITED→ 07105516 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| POLYSTEEL (UK) LIMITED→ 05350360 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| PRESSURE CARE MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 12873158 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| PROTEGA GLOBAL LIMITED→ 12286651 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| PURPLECOM AV LTD→ 13090638 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| PYGMALION LONDON LIMITED→ 15541949 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| R&CM CONSULTANCY LIMITED→ 16125284 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1993-02-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade
Registered office
16/17 Stephenson Close
East Portway Industrial Estate
Andover
Hampshire
SP10 3RU
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-24
Last: 2026-02-10
Officers (5 active · 4 resigned)
Active
BLACK, Andrew Donald Russell→
Activedirector · ~69y · appointed 2010-01-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BLACK, Rebecca→
Activedirector · ~63y · appointed 2010-01-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
EMERSON, Andrew Robin Christopher→
Activedirector · ~62y · appointed 2002-04-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
EMERSON, Mark→
Activedirector · ~55y · appointed 2002-04-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1993-02-10 · resigned 1993-02-10
EMERSON, Adrian→
Resigneddirector · ~81y · resigned 2010-01-22
EMERSON, Monica→
Resigneddirector · ~82y · appointed 1993-02-12 · resigned 2010-01-22
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 1993-02-10 · resigned 1994-02-10
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 | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 19/08/2002 | — | |
| satisfied | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 07/07/1994 | 18/09/2002 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (102 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2025-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2024-09-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2023-08-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-13
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2023-02-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2022-07-01
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-02-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-10
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-02-10
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-02-10
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-02-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2021-06-29