BARLEY WOOD LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
03602041 · ltd · incorporated 1998-07-22
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2025
Net worth
£-7.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 16290
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (75/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
10 officers (3 active, 10 linked, 3 with DOB)
76
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
81 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £7,467
Net assets shrinking
Down £11,727 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£7k
↓ 275% YoY
Current Assets
£5k
↓ 60% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£7k-£3k£847£5k£9k£13kDec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Total assets£-7.5k£4.3k
Current assets£5.3k£13.3k
Net assets£-7.5k£4.3k

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-21
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  3. 2025-05-01
    ➕
    DEAN, Karen Jane appointed
    director
  4. 2025-04-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2025-04-17
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  6. 2025-04-17
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  7. 2025-04-08
    ➕
    DEAN, Karen Jane appointed
    secretary
  8. 2025-04-08
    ➖
    DEAN, Michael resigned
    secretary
  9. 2024-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2023-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-07-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-06-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2008-06-15
    ➖
    PRYOR, Mark resigned
    director
  19. 2005-12-31
    ➕
    DEAN, Michael appointed
    secretary
  20. 2005-12-31
    ➖
    KERBER, Susan resigned
    secretary
  21. 1998-07-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BARLEY WOOD LIMITED
  22. 1998-07-22
    ➕
    DEAN, Michael appointed
    director
  23. 1998-07-22
    ➕
    HARRISON, Irene Lesley appointed
    nominee-secretary
  24. 1998-07-22
    ➖
    HARRISON, Irene Lesley resigned
    nominee-secretary
  25. 1998-07-22
    ➕
    KERBER, Susan appointed
    secretary
  26. 1998-07-22
    ➕
    CLIVE MATHIAS NOMINEE LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  27. 1998-07-22
    ➖
    CLIVE MATHIAS NOMINEE LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  28. 1998-07-22
    ➕
    PRYOR, Mark appointed
    director
  29. 1998-07-22
    ➕
    BUSINESS INFORMATION RESEARCH & REPORTING LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  30. 1998-07-22
    ➖
    BUSINESS INFORMATION RESEARCH & REPORTING LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  31. 1998-07-22
    ➕
    CLIVE MATHIAS NOMINEE LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director
  32. 1998-07-22
    ➖
    CLIVE MATHIAS NOMINEE LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

84/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

66/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Michael Dean
Individual · British · DOB 08/1966 · age 60
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.

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

6 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
Incorporated1998-07-22
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC16290 — SIC 16290

Registered office

Unit 4 Wheel Farm Business Park
Wheel Lane, Westfield
Hastings
East Sussex
TN35 4SE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-08-05
Last: 2026-07-22

Officers (3 active · 7 resigned)

DEAN, Karen Jane→
secretary · appointed 2025-04-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DEAN, Karen Jane→
director · ~62y · appointed 2025-05-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DEAN, Michael→
director · ~60y · appointed 1998-07-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DEAN, Michael→
secretary · appointed 2005-12-31 · resigned 2025-04-08
Resigned
HARRISON, Irene Lesley→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-07-22 · resigned 1998-07-22
Resigned
KERBER, Susan→
secretary · appointed 1998-07-22 · resigned 2005-12-31
Resigned
CLIVE MATHIAS NOMINEE LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 1998-07-22 · resigned 1998-07-22
Resigned
PRYOR, Mark→
director · ~69y · appointed 1998-07-22 · resigned 2008-06-15
Resigned
BUSINESS INFORMATION RESEARCH & REPORTING LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-07-22 · resigned 1998-07-22
Resigned
CLIVE MATHIAS NOMINEE LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 1998-07-22 · resigned 1998-07-22
Resigned

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

Recent filings (81 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-04-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-30
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-05-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-17
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2025-04-17
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-04-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-30