A-FOUR BUSINESS EQUIPMENT LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
03614333 · ltd · incorporated 1998-08-12
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
74 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Average employees0500

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-05-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-02-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-08-28
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2020-08-28
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  9. 2020-03-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-05-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-04-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-08-21
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  13. 2017-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-09-25
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2006-08-03
    ➕
    HUTCHINSON, Jemma appointed
    secretary
  17. 2006-08-03
    ➕
    HUTCHINSON, Jemma appointed
    director
  18. 2006-08-03
    ➖
    DAVIDSON, Lynn resigned
    secretary
  19. 1998-08-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A-FOUR BUSINESS EQUIPMENT LIMITED
  20. 1998-08-12
    ➕
    DAVIDSON, Thomas appointed
    director
  21. 1998-08-12
    ➕
    DAVIDSON, Lynn appointed
    secretary
  22. 1998-08-12
    ➕
    JL NOMINEES TWO LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 1998-08-12
    ➖
    JL NOMINEES TWO LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1998-08-12
    ➕
    JL NOMINEES ONE LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 1998-08-12
    ➖
    JL NOMINEES ONE LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
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 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • 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.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Thomas Davidson
Individual · British · DOB 09/1958 · age 68
75–100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Jemma Hutchinsonceased 01/08/2017· board control · significant influence

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

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
Incorporated1998-08-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47990 — Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets

Registered office

A-Four Business Equipment
Saltmeadows Road
Gateshead
Tyne And Wear
NE8 3BG

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-26
Last: 2025-08-12

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

HUTCHINSON, Jemma→
secretary · appointed 2006-08-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAVIDSON, Thomas→
director · ~68y · appointed 1998-08-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HUTCHINSON, Jemma→
director · ~42y · appointed 2006-08-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAVIDSON, Lynn→
secretary · appointed 1998-08-12 · resigned 2006-08-03
Resigned
JL NOMINEES TWO LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-08-12 · resigned 1998-08-12
Resigned
JL NOMINEES ONE LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-08-12 · resigned 1998-08-12
Resigned

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

Recent filings (74 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-03
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-08-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-28
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2020-08-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-13