BIRCHPRINT LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04445684 · ltd · incorporated 2002-05-23

Investment thesis

Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.

Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.

Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 18130

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 85-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 85). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: low (53/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

59 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

• 1 address
• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 address
• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 address
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2026-06-23
📍
change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2025-10-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-09-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-11-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-11-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-23
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-11-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-02-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2010-05-22
➖
RUSHTON, Jean Linda resigned
secretary
2002-05-23
🏢
Company incorporated
As BIRCHPRINT LIMITED
2002-05-23
➕
RUSHTON, Melvyn appointed
director
2002-05-23
➕
RUSHTON, Jean Linda appointed
secretary
2002-05-23
➕
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-05-23
➖
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-05-23
➕
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2002-05-23
➖
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resigned
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

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 85 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100

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 85 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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 · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Melvyn Rushton Individual · British · DOB 05/1941 · age 85	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	23/05/2017

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

Incorporated2002-05-23

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC18130 — SIC 18130

Registered office

2 The Haven

Napley

Market Drayton

Shropshire

TF9 4DT

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-03-31

Last made up to: 2025-06-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last: 2026-05-17

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

RUSHTON, Melvyn→

director · ~85y · appointed 2002-05-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

RUSHTON, Jean Linda→

secretary · appointed 2002-05-23 · resigned 2010-05-22

Resigned

SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-05-23 · resigned 2002-05-23

Resigned

INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-05-23 · resigned 2002-05-23

Resigned

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

Recent filings (59 total)

change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address

address · AD02

2026-06-23

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-06-18