COMMERCIAL FINANCE DIRECT LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
04218920 · ltd · incorporated 2001-05-17
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
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
- · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
81/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Financial leasing
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).
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
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
63 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
81/100Exceptional
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
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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 |
|---|
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
3
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
3
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
4
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2026-06-08📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2026-06-08📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2026-02-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-22📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-02-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-08📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-03-08📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-03-08📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2022-03-08📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-02-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-05-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2001-05-17🏢Company incorporatedAs COMMERCIAL FINANCE DIRECT LIMITED
- 2001-05-17➕WELLS, Jeffrey Steven appointedsecretary
- 2001-05-17➕JOSEPH, Chris appointeddirector
- 2001-05-17➕WELLS, Jeffrey Steven appointeddirector
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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
76/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Jeffrey Steven Wells Individual · British · DOB 01/1968 · age 58 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 01/06/2026 |
Mr Chris Joseph Individual · British · DOB 07/1969 · age 57 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 01/03/2017 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| COREVISION CAPITAL LIMITED→ 16811445 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| COSMA MORTGAGE SOLUTIONS LTD→ 16731567 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CRAVEN COMMERCIAL FINANCE LIMITED→ 15302571 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2001-05-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64910 — Financial leasing
Registered office
First Floor 7 Viewpoint Office Village
Babbage Road
Stevenage
Hertfordshire
SG1 2EQ
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-23
Last: 2026-05-09
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
WELLS, Jeffrey Steven→
Activesecretary · appointed 2001-05-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
JOSEPH, Chris→
Activedirector · ~57y · appointed 2001-05-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
WELLS, Jeffrey Steven→
Activedirector · ~58y · appointed 2001-05-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (63 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-09
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2026-06-08
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-06-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-25
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-10
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-03-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-03-08
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2022-03-08