COTSWOLD DRAIN SERVICES LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
03640973 · ltd · incorporated 1998-09-30
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 26.6y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
£81.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 39000
Sector: Water supply & waste
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 26.6y
65/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 26.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
76 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 £81,104
Net assets shrinking
Down £157,565 YoY
Cash YoY
+33%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£5k
↑ 33% YoY
Net Worth
£81k
↓ 66% YoY
Current Assets
£201k
↓ 47% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £312.1k | £481.2k |
| Current assets | £201.0k | £379.6k |
| Cash | £5.2k | £3.9k |
| Debtors | £170.2k | £346.9k |
| Net assets | £81.1k | £238.7k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-19📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-01-19📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2021-07-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-04-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-13📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2017-12-13📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2017-04-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-04-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-11-25➕CRESSWELL-LYNCH, Sharon Tania Veronica appointeddirector
- 2014-11-24➖OGDEN, Robin resigneddirector
- 2008-12-01➕CRESSWELL-LYNCH, Mark appointeddirector
- 2008-10-31➖TURBYFIELD, Katy resignedsecretary
- 2007-07-01➕TURBYFIELD, Katy appointedsecretary
- 2006-06-30➖BURCHALL, Patricia Alice resignedsecretary
- 1999-12-06🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 1998-10-05➕BURCHALL, Patricia Alice appointedsecretary
- 1998-10-05➖BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1998-10-05➕OGDEN, Robin appointeddirector
- 1998-10-05➖BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
- 1998-09-30🏢Company incorporatedAs COTSWOLD DRAIN SERVICES LIMITED
- 1998-09-30➕BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1998-09-30➕BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
84/100
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
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 18 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
69/100
Strong succession signalMultiple 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.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 18 years.
- 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Sharon Creswell-Lynch Individual · British · DOB 12/1967 · age 59 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/11/2021 |
Mr Mark Cresswell Individual · British · DOB 03/1964 · age 62 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 30/11/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALGAEPOWER LTD→ 15953551 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CONWAY TRADERS LIMITED→ 16295647 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| COTSWOLD CLEANTECH ENERGY LTD→ 16962739 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| COTSWOLD REFRIGERATION LTD→ 15091921 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| COUNTY CLEARANCE LIMITED→ 09183976 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| COUNTY TYRE RECYCLING LTD→ 16190974 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CRAIGDARROCH WIND FARM LTD→ 16552392 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CRANE FARM SERVICES LIMITED→ 09701831 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| CRICK SOLAR LIMITED→ 14217625 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| CRUACH WIND FARM LIMITED→ 14229079 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| CULWORTH GROUNDS SOLAR LIMITED→ 08711589 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| DAGENHAM WIND PARK LIMITED→ 03530168 · est 1998 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 28y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1998-09-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC39000 — SIC 39000
Registered office
Cotswold Yard
Gloucester Road
Staverton
Gloucestershire
GL51 0TF
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-23
Last: 2025-11-09
Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)
CRESSWELL-LYNCH, Mark→
Activedirector · ~62y · appointed 2008-12-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CRESSWELL-LYNCH, Sharon Tania Veronica→
Activedirector · ~59y · appointed 2014-11-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BURCHALL, Patricia Alice→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1998-10-05 · resigned 2006-06-30
TURBYFIELD, Katy→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2007-07-01 · resigned 2008-10-31
BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-09-30 · resigned 1998-10-05
OGDEN, Robin→
Resigneddirector · ~71y · appointed 1998-10-05 · resigned 2014-11-24
BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-09-30 · resigned 1998-10-05
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Mortgage debenture | 1 property | 06/12/1999 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (76 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-19
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-01-19
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-01-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-23