ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
03676856 · ltd · incorporated 1998-12-01
Investment thesis
Property vehicle with leveraged stack — refinance / partial-release angle.
Why interesting: Asset-backed; value largely in underlying property; lender engagement likely possible.
Why risky: Multiple lenders to manage; inter-creditor friction and partial-release cost possible.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£272.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Development of building projects
Sector: Construction
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 68100Buying and selling of own real estate
  • 68209Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (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. 5 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

6 live charges · 5 lenders · oldest 24.6y

35/100
too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

  • · Oldest live charge is 24.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 5 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Legal-friction score 35/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
6 charges (6/6 with lender, 6/6 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
77 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
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
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £272,767
Net assets shrinking
Down £47,402 YoY
Cash YoY
+5%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£5k
↑ 5.5% YoY
Net Worth
£273k
↓ 15% YoY
Current Assets
£9k
↓ 33% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£64k£128k£192k£256k£320kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£433.8k£489.4k
Current assets£9.2k£13.8k
Cash£5.2k£4.9k
Debtors£4.0k£8.9k
Net assets£272.8k£320.2k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (31 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-08-21
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AAMD
  7. 2020-07-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-01-20
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  9. 2020-01-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #6
    Lender: Paragon Bank PLC
  10. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-09-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-12-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-12-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2011-12-20
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Yorkshire Building Society Trading as Norwich & Peterborough Building Society
  18. 2008-12-24
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  19. 2007-12-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Capital Home Loans Limited
  20. 2007-12-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Capital Home Loans Limited
  21. 2003-09-01
    ➕
    BARNES, Jonathan Robert appointed
    director
  22. 2001-11-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: First Active PLC
  23. 2001-10-01
    ➕
    BARNES, Jonathan Robert appointed
    secretary
  24. 2001-10-01
    ➖
    SHIELD, Carolyn resigned
    secretary
  25. 1999-09-10
    ➖
    EXPRESS REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 1999-03-31
    ➖
    EXPRESS FORMATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 1998-12-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS LIMITED
  28. 1998-12-01
    ➕
    BARNES, Nicola Julien Hilton appointed
    director
  29. 1998-12-01
    ➕
    SHIELD, Carolyn appointed
    secretary
  30. 1998-12-01
    ➕
    EXPRESS FORMATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  31. 1998-12-01
    ➕
    EXPRESS REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
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 67 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 67. 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

1 low
6 live charges
low

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

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Nicola Julien Hilton Barnes
Individual · British · DOB 12/1961 · age 65
50–75%
—50-75% shares01/12/2016

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

8 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
Incorporated1998-12-01
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC41100 — Development of building projects

Registered office

18 Newton Close
Trowse
Norwich
Norfolk
NR14 8TX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-15
Last: 2025-12-01

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

BARNES, Jonathan Robert→
secretary · appointed 2001-10-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BARNES, Jonathan Robert→
director · ~67y · appointed 2003-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BARNES, Nicola Julien Hilton→
director · ~65y · appointed 1998-12-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHIELD, Carolyn→
secretary · appointed 1998-12-01 · resigned 2001-10-01
Resigned
EXPRESS FORMATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-12-01 · resigned 1999-03-31
Resigned
EXPRESS REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-12-01 · resigned 1999-09-10
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

6
Total charges
6
Outstanding
5
Active lenders
Status:Lender:6 of 6 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Paragon
Paragon Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property17/01/2020—
outstanding
Yorkshire Building Society Trading as Norwich & Peterborough Building Society
Mortgage deed1 property20/12/2011—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Legal charge1 property24/12/2008—
outstanding
Capital Home Loans
Capital Home Loans Limited
Deed of charge1 property18/12/2007—
outstanding
Capital Home Loans
Capital Home Loans Limited
Deed of charge1 property11/12/2007—
outstanding
First Active
First Active PLC
Legal charge1 property19/11/2001—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (77 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-07-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-07-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-01
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2020-08-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-07-13
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2020-01-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-02