MACDONELL CERAMICS LTD

🌳Matureactive

04542532 · ltd · incorporated 2002-09-23

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 Sept 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 23410

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

23490SIC 23490
90030Artistic creation

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 79). 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, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

61 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.

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	2025-09-30	2024-09-30
Average employees	200	200

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

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand

2025-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-11-06
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2018-01-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-01-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2015-09-24
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-03-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2014-09-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2010-11-16
➕
CRAWFORD, Karen appointed
secretary
2010-10-31
➖
QUEEN SQUARE SECRETARIES LTD resigned
corporate-secretary
2002-12-05
➖
DOLAN, Paul Vincent resigned
secretary
2002-12-05
➕
QUEEN SQUARE SECRETARIES LTD appointed
corporate-secretary
2002-09-23
🏢
Company incorporated
As MACDONELL CERAMICS LTD
2002-09-23
➕
MACDONELL, Alasdair Neil appointed
director
2002-09-23
➕
MACDONELL, Sally Anne appointed
director
2002-09-23
➕
DOLAN, Paul Vincent appointed
secretary
2002-09-23
➕
QUEEN SQUARE HOLDINGS LIMITED appointed
corporate-director
2002-09-23
➖
QUEEN SQUARE HOLDINGS LIMITED resigned
corporate-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 "MACDONELL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — 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 79 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 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Sally Anne Macdonell Individual · British · DOB 05/1971 · age 55	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016
Mr Alasdair Neil Macdonell Individual · British · DOB 05/1947 · age 79	25–50%	—	25-50% 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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1 RAJ LTD→ 14676673 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
6880 BETTON GRANGE (SOCIETY) LIMITED→ 04785581 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
6IXTY 5IVE PRODUCTIONS LTD→ 16024583 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
A & G ESCROW TAPES LIMITED→ 13562680 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
A C E MARQUETRY LIMITED→ 07429157 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
A G AUTOMATION LIMITED→ 08886445 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
A.H.DODD & COMPANY(ENGINEERS)LIMITED→ 00539781 · est 1954 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	71y	—	—
A.J.M. ENGINEERING LIMITED→ 01581154 · est 1981 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	44y	—	—
ABSTRACT I.T. MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 08515920 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
AC PRECISION ENGINEERING LIMITED→ 04815509 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
ACORN COMPUTERS (CAMBRIDGE) LIMITED→ 07098514 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
ACORN JOINERY BATH LTD→ 07198919 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2002-09-23

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC23410 — SIC 23410

Registered office

Chapps Farmhouse Slaughterford Mill

Slaughterford

Chippenham

Wiltshire

SN14 8RJ

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-06-30

Last made up to: 2025-09-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-07

Last: 2025-09-23

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

CRAWFORD, Karen→

secretary · appointed 2010-11-16

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACDONELL, Alasdair Neil→

director · ~79y · appointed 2002-09-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACDONELL, Sally Anne→

director · ~55y · appointed 2002-09-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DOLAN, Paul Vincent→

secretary · appointed 2002-09-23 · resigned 2002-12-05

Resigned

QUEEN SQUARE SECRETARIES LTD→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2002-12-05 · resigned 2010-10-31

Resigned

QUEEN SQUARE HOLDINGS LIMITED→

corporate-director · appointed 2002-09-23 · resigned 2002-09-23

Resigned

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