CARDENS PENSION TRUSTEES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03063801 · ltd · incorporated 1995-06-02
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Pension funding
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 57/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 9 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (53/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

15 live charges · 9 lenders · oldest 27.2y

15/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 27.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 9 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
15 charges (15/15 with lender, 15/15 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
90 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
74
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 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
Average employees3300

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (39 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-10-04
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  9. 2018-10-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  10. 2018-10-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #15
    Lender: Folk Nominee Limited
  11. 2018-10-04
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #14
  12. 2018-07-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-06-09
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  15. 2017-06-09
    🔒
    Charge registered #14
    Lender: Exeter Finance Limited (No. 08577273)
  16. 2016-07-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-05-12
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2015-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2014-10-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #13
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  20. 2014-04-30
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #11
  21. 2012-10-30
    🔒
    Charge registered #12
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
  22. 2011-04-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #11
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  23. 2008-07-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #10
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  24. 2007-03-09
    🔒
    Charge registered #9
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  25. 2006-09-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #8
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  26. 2006-03-31
    🔒
    Charge registered #7
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  27. 2005-02-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #6
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  28. 2004-02-24
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  29. 2004-01-09
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  30. 2003-01-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  31. 2003-01-16
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
  32. 1999-04-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Midland Bank PLC
  33. 1995-06-30
    ➕
    CARDEN, Michael Alexander appointed
    secretary
  34. 1995-06-30
    ➕
    CARDEN, Hilary Jane appointed
    director
  35. 1995-06-30
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  36. 1995-06-30
    ➖
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  37. 1995-06-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CARDENS PENSION TRUSTEES LIMITED
  38. 1995-06-02
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  39. 1995-06-02
    ➕
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "CARDEN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +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.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong 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.
  • 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

1 med · 1 low
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

13 live charges
low

Heavily leveraged with multiple live security positions — understand the capital structure before proceeding.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Hilary Jane Carden
Individual · British · DOB 08/1959 · age 67
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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 →

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————24y——
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———————
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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
Incorporated1995-06-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC65300 — Pension funding

Registered office

1 Westbury Mews
Westbury Hill
Bristol
BS9 3QA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-16
Last: 2026-05-02

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

CARDEN, Michael Alexander→
secretary · appointed 1995-06-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CARDEN, Hilary Jane→
director · ~67y · appointed 1995-06-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1995-06-02 · resigned 1995-06-30
Resigned
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1995-06-02 · resigned 1995-06-30
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

15
Total charges
13
Outstanding
6
Active lenders
Status:Lender:15 of 15 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Folk Nominee
Folk Nominee Limited
A registered charge1 property04/10/2018—
satisfied
Exeter Finance (No. 08577273)
Exeter Finance Limited (No. 08577273)
A registered charge1 property09/06/201704/10/2018
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property03/10/2014—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
Mortgage1 property30/10/2012—
satisfied
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property08/04/201130/04/2014
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property04/07/2008—
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property09/03/2007—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Third party legal charge1 property22/09/2006—
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Third party legal charge1 property31/03/2006—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property11/02/2005—
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property24/02/2004—
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property09/01/2004—
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property17/01/2003—
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property16/01/2003—
outstanding
Midland Bank
Midland Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property01/04/1999—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (90 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-08-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-audited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-05-16