BACKSHIELD SERVICES LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
02994969 · ltd · incorporated 1994-11-25
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
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£28.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 38110
Sector: Water supply & waste
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 38120SIC 38120
- 74902Quantity surveying activities
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -53% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (78/100)Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.
Company profile
address, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
82 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.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £27,993
Net assets shrinking
Down £28,647 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 53% YoY
Cash YoY
-53%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£77k
↓ 53% YoY
Net Worth
£28k
↓ 51% YoY
Current Assets
£127k
↓ 53% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-04-30 | 2024-04-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £36.8k | £68.4k |
| Current assets | £127.5k | £271.0k |
| Cash | £77.3k | £164.4k |
| Debtors | £50.2k | £106.6k |
| Net assets | £28.0k | £56.6k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 signals 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
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-10-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-09📄change-account-reference-date-company-current-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2022-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-30📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-11-30📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-11-30📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-11-30📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-11-30📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-10-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-03-16📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2017-03-01➕ILLINGWORTH, Norma appointeddirector
- 2008-11-24➖ILLINGWORTH, Angela Dawn resignedsecretary
- 1995-01-23➕ILLINGWORTH, Leslie appointeddirector
- 1995-01-23➕ILLINGWORTH, Angela Dawn appointedsecretary
- 1995-01-23➖SAME-DAY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1995-01-23➖WILDMAN & BATTELL LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
- 1994-11-25🏢Company incorporatedAs BACKSHIELD SERVICES LIMITED
- 1994-11-25➕SAME-DAY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1994-11-25➕WILDMAN & BATTELL LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
91/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
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 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 31 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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Leslie Illingworth Individual · British · DOB 11/1959 · age 67 | 50–75% | 50–75% | board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Norma Illingworth Individual · British · DOB 04/1968 · age 58 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 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
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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
Incorporated1994-11-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC38110 — SIC 38110
Registered office
10 Green Leas Carlton
Stockton-On-Tees
Cleveland
TS21 1EJ
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-09
Last: 2025-11-25
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
ILLINGWORTH, Leslie→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 1995-01-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ILLINGWORTH, Norma→
Activedirector · ~58y · appointed 2017-03-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ILLINGWORTH, Angela Dawn→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1995-01-23 · resigned 2008-11-24
SAME-DAY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1994-11-25 · resigned 1995-01-23
WILDMAN & BATTELL LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 1994-11-25 · resigned 1995-01-23
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (82 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-10-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-10-02
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2023-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-10-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-15
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-11-30
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-11-30
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-11-30