BLADES YARD LEISURE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03033960 · ltd · incorporated 1995-03-16
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Oct 2025
Net worth
£305.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Public houses and bars
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 30.2y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 30.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
90 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £305,504

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£306k
↑ 9.6% YoY
Current Assets
£151k
↑ 22% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£61k£122k£183k£244k£306kOct 2024Oct 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-10-312024-10-31
Total assets£305.5k£278.7k
Current assets£151.4k£124.6k
Net assets£305.5k£278.7k

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 (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-11-16
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  6. 2022-06-29
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2022-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-01-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-07-21
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  13. 2017-07-21
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  14. 2017-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-08-01
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2016-01-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-06-23
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2005-03-01
    ➕
    MERRITT, Catherine Tamar appointed
    secretary
  19. 2005-03-01
    ➖
    NOBLE, Susan resigned
    secretary
  20. 1999-07-14
    ➖
    DOIG, Ian resigned
    secretary
  21. 1999-07-14
    ➕
    NOBLE, Susan appointed
    secretary
  22. 1996-03-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Scottish & Newcastle PLC
  23. 1995-03-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BLADES YARD LEISURE LIMITED
  24. 1995-03-16
    ➕
    SHAW, Graham James appointed
    director
  25. 1995-03-16
    ➕
    DOIG, Ian appointed
    secretary
  26. 1995-03-16
    ➕
    GRAEME, Dorothy May appointed
    nominee-secretary
  27. 1995-03-16
    ➖
    GRAEME, Dorothy May resigned
    nominee-secretary
  28. 1995-03-16
    ➕
    GRAEME, Lesley Joyce appointed
    nominee-director
  29. 1995-03-16
    ➖
    GRAEME, Lesley Joyce resigned
    nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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

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
Mr Graham James Shaw
Individual · British · DOB 10/1954 · age 72
25–50%
—25-50% shares21/05/2017

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

8 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
Incorporated1995-03-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56302 — Public houses and bars

Registered office

33 South Drive
Harrogate
HG2 8AT
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last: 2025-06-16

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

MERRITT, Catherine Tamar→
secretary · appointed 2005-03-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHAW, Graham James→
director · ~72y · appointed 1995-03-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DOIG, Ian→
secretary · appointed 1995-03-16 · resigned 1999-07-14
Resigned
GRAEME, Dorothy May→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1995-03-16 · resigned 1995-03-16
Resigned
NOBLE, Susan→
secretary · appointed 1999-07-14 · resigned 2005-03-01
Resigned
GRAEME, Lesley Joyce→
nominee-director · ~73y · appointed 1995-03-16 · resigned 1995-03-16
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Scottish & Newcastle
Scottish & Newcastle PLC
First legal charge1 property01/03/199621/07/2017

Recent filings (90 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-26
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2022-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-29
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-06-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-02