BICKINGTON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
03000050 · ltd · incorporated 1994-12-09
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 26.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£290.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Public houses and bars
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 26.3y

70/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 26.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
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
10 officers (3 active, 10 linked, 4 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
98 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £290,941

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£291k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£241k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£58k£116k£175k£233k£291kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£290.9k£290.3k
Current assets£241.0k£240.4k
Net assets£290.9k£288.6k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

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 (38 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-31
    📄
    replacement-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
    confirmation-statement · RP01CS01
  2. 2025-12-17
    📄
    replacement-filing-of-director-appointment-with-name
    officers · RP01AP01
  3. 2025-09-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-08-22
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  5. 2025-08-22
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2025-08-20
    ➕
    SMITH, Nicholas John appointed
    director
  7. 2025-08-20
    ➖
    MCMULLAN, Susan Margaret resigned
    director
  8. 2024-09-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2023-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-04-12
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  13. 2021-04-12
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  14. 2020-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-11-14
    ➕
    SMITH & CO appointed
    corporate-secretary
  17. 2018-11-14
    ➖
    SMITH, Nicholas John resigned
    secretary
  18. 2018-11-14
    📄
    appoint-corporate-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP04
  19. 2018-11-14
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  20. 2018-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  21. 2017-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  22. 2017-07-07
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Margaret Rose Smith
  23. 2016-12-01
    ➕
    SMITH, Stephen Richard appointed
    director
  24. 2016-12-01
    ➖
    SMITH, Nicholas John resigned
    director
  25. 2016-06-10
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  26. 2000-03-20
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  27. 1999-12-08
    ➖
    SMITH, Margaret Rose resigned
    secretary
  28. 1999-12-08
    ➕
    SMITH, Nicholas John appointed
    secretary
  29. 1995-11-11
    ➕
    SMITH, Margaret Rose appointed
    secretary
  30. 1995-11-11
    ➖
    SMITH, Nicholas John resigned
    secretary
  31. 1995-01-11
    ➕
    SMITH, Nicholas John appointed
    secretary
  32. 1995-01-11
    ➖
    VELOCITY COMPANY SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  33. 1995-01-11
    ➕
    MCMULLAN, Susan Margaret appointed
    director
  34. 1995-01-11
    ➕
    SMITH, Nicholas John appointed
    director
  35. 1995-01-11
    ➖
    VELOCITY COMPANY (HOLDINGS) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  36. 1994-12-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BICKINGTON LIMITED
  37. 1994-12-09
    ➕
    VELOCITY COMPANY SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  38. 1994-12-09
    ➕
    VELOCITY COMPANY (HOLDINGS) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

81/100
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.
  • +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

16/100
No succession signal

No meaningful acquirability indicators from public data.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — SMITH, Nicholas John (same surname) appointed 2025-08-20. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.

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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Stephen Richard Smith
Individual · British · DOB 07/1957 · age 69
50–75%
—50-75% shares01/12/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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 →
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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
Incorporated1994-12-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56302 — Public houses and bars

Registered office

Lurcombe
Bickington
Newton Abbot
Devon
TQ12 6LA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-23
Last: 2025-12-09

Officers (3 active · 7 resigned)

SMITH & CO→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2018-11-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Nicholas John→
director · ~53y · appointed 2025-08-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Stephen Richard→
director · ~69y · appointed 2016-12-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Margaret Rose→
secretary · appointed 1995-11-11 · resigned 1999-12-08
Resigned
SMITH, Nicholas John→
secretary · appointed 1999-12-08 · resigned 2018-11-14
Resigned
SMITH, Nicholas John→
secretary · appointed 1995-01-11 · resigned 1995-11-11
Resigned
VELOCITY COMPANY SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 1994-12-09 · resigned 1995-01-11
Resigned
MCMULLAN, Susan Margaret→
director · ~66y · appointed 1995-01-11 · resigned 2025-08-20
Resigned
SMITH, Nicholas John→
director · ~53y · appointed 1995-01-11 · resigned 2016-12-01
Resigned
VELOCITY COMPANY (HOLDINGS) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1994-12-09 · resigned 1995-01-11
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Margaret Rose Smith
A registered charge1 property07/07/201712/04/2021
satisfied
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property20/03/200010/06/2016

Recent filings (98 total)

replacement-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP01CS01
2025-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-17
replacement-filing-of-director-appointment-with-name
officers · RP01AP01
2025-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-09
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-08-22
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-08-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-27
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2021-04-12