ARMSTRONG BUILDING SUPPLIES LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
03962404 · ltd · incorporated 2000-04-03
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 26.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46730
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (80/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
3 live charges · oldest 26.0y
85/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 26.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
85 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
85
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-05-31 | 2024-05-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 500 | 600 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (30 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-02-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-07📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2022-12-07📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2022-12-07📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2022-12-07🔓Charge satisfied #3
- 2022-12-07🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2022-12-07🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2022-07-19📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-07-19📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-07-19📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-07-19📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-07-19📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2022-02-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-01-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-01-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2009-05-29🔒Charge registered #3Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2009-05-29🔒Charge registered #2Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2000-05-08🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2000-04-03🏢Company incorporatedAs ARMSTRONG BUILDING SUPPLIES LIMITED
- 2000-04-03➕JOHNSTONE, Carolyn appointedsecretary
- 2000-04-03➕DUNLOP, Graeme appointeddirector
- 2000-04-03➕JOHNSTONE, Neil appointeddirector
- 2000-04-03➕ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2000-04-03➖ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2000-04-03➕AR NOMINEES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2000-04-03➖AR NOMINEES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
76/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
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 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
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.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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 med ·Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
mediumMultiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Neil Johnstone Individual · British · DOB 03/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Graeme Dunlop Individual · British · DOB 06/1964 · age 62 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A W BLAKE LTD→ 02969527 · est 1994 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 31y | — | — |
| AGRIFEED SOLUTIONS LTD→ 13163861 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ALPHAGREEN SOLUTIONS UK LIMITED→ 16139115 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AUDEK TIMBER LIMITED→ 16326439 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AYLE COLLIERY COMPANY LIMITED→ 00281899 · est 1933 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 92y | — | — |
| B. B. DAIRY LIMITED→ 06956754 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| BIOGLOW ALGAE LTD→ 15011370 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BIRDS FREE RANGE EGGS→ 09517834 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| BLOMFIELD'S LIMITED→ 04699425 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| BORDER FIRE AND SECURITY LIMITED→ 01897238 · est 1985 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 41y | — | — |
| BORDER SPORTS SERVICES LTD→ 04614700 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| BOULDER STREAM LTD→ 12069225 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2000-04-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46730 — SIC 46730
Registered office
Brunel Way
Durranhill Industrial Estate
Carlisle
CA1 3NQ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-17
Last: 2026-04-03
Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)
JOHNSTONE, Carolyn→
Activesecretary · appointed 2000-04-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
DUNLOP, Graeme→
Activedirector · ~62y · appointed 2000-04-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
JOHNSTONE, Neil→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2000-04-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-04-03 · resigned 2000-04-03
AR NOMINEES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-04-03 · resigned 2000-04-03
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
3
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Legal charge | 1 property | 29/05/2009 | 07/12/2022 | |
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Legal charge | 1 property | 29/05/2009 | 07/12/2022 | |
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 08/05/2000 | 07/12/2022 |
Recent filings (85 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-10
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2022-12-07
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2022-12-07
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2022-12-07
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-07-19
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-07-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-19