A. COWLEY & SONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
03023799 · ltd · incorporated 1995-02-20
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£6.06M
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Landscape service activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (73/100, director aged 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -59% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 9.1y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 9.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

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
7 officers (4 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)
84
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
87 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 £6,058,996
Net assets shrinking
Down £553,743 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 59% YoY
Cash YoY
-59%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£553k
↓ 59% YoY
Net Worth
£6.1m
↓ 8.4% YoY
Current Assets
£6.2m
↓ 3.0% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£1.3m£2.6m£4.0m£5.3m£6.6mMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£6.12M£6.70M
Current assets£6.25M£6.44M
Cash£553.3k£1.35M
Debtors£2.52M£2.75M
Net assets£6.06M£6.61M

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 (33 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-24
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  4. 2024-02-28
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2024-02-01
    ➕
    DAY, Nicholas David appointed
    director
  6. 2023-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-01-31
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  8. 2022-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-11-16
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  10. 2021-11-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-10-28
    ➕
    COWLEY, Denise Sylvia appointed
    director
  12. 2021-09-29
    ➖
    COWLEY, Scott Arthur resigned
    director
  13. 2021-09-29
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2021-03-01
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  15. 2021-03-01
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  16. 2021-03-01
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  17. 2021-03-01
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  18. 2021-02-25
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  19. 2021-02-05
    ➖
    COWLEY, Arthur resigned
    director
  20. 2021-02-03
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  21. 2021-02-03
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  22. 2021-02-03
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  23. 2020-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  24. 2019-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  25. 2017-07-20
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  26. 2017-05-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  27. 2015-06-15
    ➕
    COWLEY, Adam James appointed
    director
  28. 1995-02-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A. COWLEY & SONS LIMITED
  29. 1995-02-20
    ➕
    COWLEY, Denise Sylvia appointed
    secretary
  30. 1995-02-20
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  31. 1995-02-20
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  32. 1995-02-20
    ➕
    COWLEY, Arthur appointed
    director
  33. 1995-02-20
    ➕
    COWLEY, Scott Arthur appointed
    director

Owner dependency

88/100
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
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "COWLEY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 77 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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

Cowley Railway Contractors Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Cowley Railway Contractors Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
⬇
A. COWLEY & SONS LIMITED
This company · 03023799

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
Cowley Railway Contractors Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control15/12/2017
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mrs Denise Sylvia Cowleyceased 15/12/2017· 25-50% shares
  • Mr Scott Arthur Cowleyceased 15/12/2017· 25-50% shares

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
Incorporated1995-02-20
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC81300 — Landscape service activities

Registered office

The Office Block Turnerwood
Thorpe Salvin
Worksop
Nottinghamshire
S80 3LA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-30
Last: 2026-01-16

Officers (4 active · 3 resigned)

COWLEY, Denise Sylvia→
secretary · appointed 1995-02-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COWLEY, Adam James→
director · ~45y · appointed 2015-06-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COWLEY, Denise Sylvia→
director · ~77y · appointed 2021-10-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAY, Nicholas David→
director · ~59y · appointed 2024-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1995-02-20 · resigned 1995-02-20
Resigned
COWLEY, Arthur→
director · ~91y · appointed 1995-02-20 · resigned 2021-02-05
Resigned
COWLEY, Scott Arthur→
director · ~56y · appointed 1995-02-20 · resigned 2021-09-29
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
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
A registered charge—20/07/201701/03/2021
satisfied
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
A registered charge—03/05/201701/03/2021

Recent filings (87 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-20
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-04-24
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-01
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2023-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-27
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-11-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-11
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-09-29