BLACK DOG SIGNS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04501018 · ltd · incorporated 2002-08-01
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). 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, 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
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
55 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£0Jul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-04-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-07-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-09-14
    ➕
    HOUCHEN, Madeline Jennifer appointed
    director
  11. 2017-09-14
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  12. 2017-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-08-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-08-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2002-08-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BLACK DOG SIGNS LIMITED
  18. 2002-08-01
    ➕
    HOUCHEN, Madeline Jennifer appointed
    secretary
  19. 2002-08-01
    ➕
    HOUCHEN, John appointed
    director
  20. 2002-08-01
    ➕
    SDG SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2002-08-01
    ➖
    SDG SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2002-08-01
    ➕
    SDG REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2002-08-01
    ➖
    SDG REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. 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 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Houchen
Individual · British · DOB 02/1958 · age 68
25–50%
—25-50% shares03/07/2016

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
Incorporated2002-08-01
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Registered office

Dairy Farm Cottage
Saxlingham Green
Saxlingham
Norwich
NR15 1TF

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-15
Last: 2025-08-01

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

HOUCHEN, Madeline Jennifer→
secretary · appointed 2002-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HOUCHEN, John→
director · ~68y · appointed 2002-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HOUCHEN, Madeline Jennifer→
director · ~69y · appointed 2017-09-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SDG SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-08-01 · resigned 2002-08-01
Resigned
SDG REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-08-01 · resigned 2002-08-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (55 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-04-30