A J & M J PLANT (SALES) LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
03174481 · ltd · incorporated 1996-03-18
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
£3.71M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46140
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
3 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 21.7y
15/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 21.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
110 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 · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £3,708,569
Cash draining
Cash down 42% YoY
Cash YoY
-42%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£296k
↓ 42% YoY
Net Worth
£3.7m
↑ 5.1% YoY
Current Assets
£5.3m
↑ 9.0% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-29 | 2024-03-29 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £4.61M | £4.19M |
| Current assets | £5.31M | £4.87M |
| Cash | £295.9k | £505.8k |
| Debtors | £3.20M | £2.24M |
| Net assets | £3.71M | £3.53M |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-01📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-18📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC05
- 2022-03-18📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC05
- 2021-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-28📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2021-06-21➖MURPHY, Michael John resigneddirector
- 2021-03-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-18📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2021-03-18📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2021-03-18📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC05
- 2020-10-27📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-10-22📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-10-22📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-10-22📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-10-22📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-10-22📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2019-04-30🔒Charge registered #3Lender: Pcf Bank Limited
- 2017-05-20🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2017-04-12🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
- 2004-09-27🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2003-02-19➕MURPHY, Andrew John appointeddirector
- 2003-02-19➖MURPHY, Ruth Ann resigneddirector
- 1997-08-01➕MURPHY, Ruth Ann appointeddirector
- 1996-03-18🏢Company incorporatedAs A J & M J PLANT (SALES) LIMITED
- 1996-03-18➕MURPHY, Ruth Ann appointedsecretary
- 1996-03-18➕SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1996-03-18➖SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1996-03-18➕MURPHY, Michael John appointeddirector
Owner dependency
93/100
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
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
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 64. 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 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.)
Group structure
Murphy Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.
🏛️ultimate parent
Murphy Holdings Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
⬇
A J & M J PLANT (SALES) LIMITED
This company · 03174481
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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Murphy Holdings Limited Corporate entity | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
- Mr Andrew John Murphyceased 03/03/2021· board control
- Mr Michael John Murphyceased 03/03/2021· board control
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
Active · Wholesale & distribution · PO postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 BREWERY LTD→ 16037237 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| A.A. ADVANTAGE LIMITED→ 04926955 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| A.H.S. (SOUTH EAST) LTD→ 09429186 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| A2Z CONFECTIONERY LTD→ 16353313 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ABGKWI LTD→ 14020725 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ADVANCED ALLOYS LIMITED→ 02271229 · est 1988 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 37y | — | — |
| ADVANCED MEDICAL EQUIPMENT LIMITED→ 04498804 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| AFFINITY SOLAR SOLUTIONS LTD→ 15030988 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AGILITA WORKSPACE LIMITED→ 12270886 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| AHMED COEN LIMITED→ 16776367 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AIC (AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIAL COMPONENTS) LIMITED→ 07457332 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| AIFURBO LIMITED→ 16270519 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1996-03-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46140 — SIC 46140
Registered office
24 Picton House Hussar Court
Waterlooville
PO7 7SQ
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-29
Last made up to: 2025-03-29
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-01
Last: 2026-03-18
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
Active
MURPHY, Andrew John→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2003-02-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-03-18 · resigned 1996-03-18
MURPHY, Michael John→
Resigneddirector · ~90y · appointed 1996-03-18 · resigned 2021-06-21
MURPHY, Ruth Ann→
Resigneddirector · ~89y · appointed 1997-08-01 · resigned 2003-02-19
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
3
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Pcf Bank Pcf Bank Limited | A registered charge | — | 30/04/2019 | — | |
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 12/04/2017 | — | |
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 27/09/2004 | 20/05/2017 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (110 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-11-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-20
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2022-03-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2022-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-21
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-29