BLACK SHEEP IRONWORKS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04508565 · ltd · incorporated 2002-08-12

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

—

year to Aug 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 25990

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 23.8y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 23.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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

Lenders & charges

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

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

58 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-08-31	2024-08-31
Average employees	500	500

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2026-04-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-03-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-03-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-21
➖
TOWNLEY, Kyrine Samantha resigned
secretary
2015-08-21
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2015-08-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-03-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-10-24
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2002-09-25
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
2002-08-12
🏢
Company incorporated
As BLACK SHEEP IRONWORKS LIMITED
2002-08-12
➕
TOWNLEY, Andrew Ross appointed
director
2002-08-12
➕
TOWNLEY, Kyrine Samantha appointed
secretary
2002-08-12
➕
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-08-12
➖
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-08-12
➕
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2002-08-12
➖
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100

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.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
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 Andrew Ross Townley Individual · British · DOB 12/1964 · age 62	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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BLEMKLEEN (NORTH WEST) LIMITED→ 01792941 · est 1984 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	42y	—	—
BLOCK MOULDS UK LTD→ 16456164 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

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

Incorporated2002-08-12

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC25990 — SIC 25990

Registered office

Unit 15 Holme Mills Industrial

Estate Holme

Carnforth

Lancashire

LA6 1RD

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-26

Last: 2025-08-12

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

TOWNLEY, Andrew Ross→

director · ~62y · appointed 2002-08-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

TOWNLEY, Kyrine Samantha→

secretary · appointed 2002-08-12 · resigned 2015-08-21

Resigned

TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-08-12 · resigned 2002-08-12

Resigned

COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-08-12 · resigned 2002-08-12

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
	outstanding	HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	25/09/2002	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.