A B & SONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

04293408 · ltd · incorporated 2001-09-25

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 23.7y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Sept 2024

Net worth

£78.0k

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 23.7y

85/100

ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

· Oldest live charge is 23.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

68 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Positive net assets

Net assets £78,050

Cash YoY

-6%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£90k

↓ 5.7% YoY

Net Worth

£78k

↑ 3.8% YoY

Current Assets

£173k

↑ 18% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2024-09-30	2023-09-30
Total assets	£83.0k	£75.2k
Current assets	£173.3k	£146.7k
Cash	£90.4k	£95.9k
Debtors	£79.0k	£46.9k
Net assets	£78.0k	£75.2k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand

2025-06-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-10
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2020-02-01
➕
BIRCH, Tracey appointed
director
2019-06-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-06-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-06-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-09
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-06-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-06
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-07-24
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2013-05-01
➖
BIRCH, Alan resigned
director
2009-06-23
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2008-06-22
➖
DAVIS, Shirley Ann resigned
secretary
2002-09-02
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
2001-09-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As A B & SONS LIMITED
2001-09-25
➕
BIRCH, Daren appointed
director
2001-09-25
➕
DAVIS, Shirley Ann appointed
secretary
2001-09-25
➕
DCS CORPORATE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2001-09-25
➖
DCS CORPORATE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2001-09-25
➕
BIRCH, Alan appointed
director

Owner dependency

76/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material 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.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

66/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Daren Birch Individual · British · DOB 10/1969 · age 57	50–75%	—	50-75% shares	30/09/2016

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

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

Incorporated2001-09-25

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Registered office

15a Batham Gate Road

Peak Dale

Buxton

Derbyshire

SK17 8AH

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-06-30

Last made up to: 2024-09-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-02-18

Last: 2026-02-04

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

BIRCH, Daren→

director · ~57y · appointed 2001-09-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BIRCH, Tracey→

director · ~55y · appointed 2020-02-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DAVIS, Shirley Ann→

secretary · appointed 2001-09-25 · resigned 2008-06-22

Resigned

DCS CORPORATE SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2001-09-25 · resigned 2001-09-25

Resigned

BIRCH, Alan→

director · ~82y · appointed 2001-09-25 · resigned 2013-05-01

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	satisfied	National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	02/09/2002	23/06/2009