COLIN DAWSON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04220175 · ltd · incorporated 2001-05-21
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 Oct 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46610
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 71129Other engineering activities
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 76-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 76). 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, 2 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
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
71 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£0Oct 2024Oct 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-10-312024-10-31
Average employees13001300

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 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-06-02
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  6. 2022-07-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-05-10
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  8. 2021-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-08-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-07-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-07-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-05-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2017-05-24
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  15. 2017-05-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2017-05-23
    📍
    move-registers-to-sail-company-with-new-address
    address · AD03
  17. 2001-06-11
    ➕
    DAWSON, Kathleen Anne appointed
    secretary
  18. 2001-06-11
    ➕
    DAWSON, Colin appointed
    director
  19. 2001-06-11
    ➕
    DAWSON, Kathleen Anne appointed
    director
  20. 2001-06-11
    ➖
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2001-06-11
    ➖
    AR NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  22. 2001-05-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COLIN DAWSON LIMITED
  23. 2001-05-21
    ➕
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2001-05-21
    ➕
    AR NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "DAWSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 76 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 76 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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

clean
No 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Colin Dawson
Individual · British · DOB 10/1950 · age 76
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Kathleen Anne Dawson
Individual · British · DOB 07/1961 · age 65
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2001-05-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46610 — SIC 46610

Registered office

High Mill
Langwathby
Penrith
CA10 1NB
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-04
Last: 2025-05-21

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

DAWSON, Kathleen Anne→
secretary · appointed 2001-06-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAWSON, Colin→
director · ~76y · appointed 2001-06-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAWSON, Kathleen Anne→
director · ~65y · appointed 2001-06-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-05-21 · resigned 2001-06-11
Resigned
AR NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-05-21 · resigned 2001-06-11
Resigned

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

Recent filings (71 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-02
change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2023-06-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-31
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2022-05-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-21