A.J COOPER (BUILDERS) LTD

🌳Matureactive

04581158 · ltd · incorporated 2002-11-04

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

—

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Turnover

—

year to Dec 2025

Net worth

£101.3k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Construction of other civil engineering projects n.e.c.

Sector: Construction

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 81-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 81). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -73% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 23.5y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 23.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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 (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

60 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £101,271

Net assets shrinking

Down £60,220 YoY

Cash draining

Cash down 73% YoY

Cash YoY

-73%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£47k

↓ 73% YoY

Net Worth

£101k

↓ 37% YoY

Current Assets

£152k

↓ 60% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-12-31	2024-12-31
Total assets	£108.4k	£171.5k
Current assets	£151.5k	£376.6k
Cash	£46.7k	£176.2k
Debtors	£59.6k	£70.8k
Net assets	£101.3k	£161.5k

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 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2026-04-10
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-17
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-12
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-30
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-08
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-04
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-30
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-27
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-06-19
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-09-26
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-07-12
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-11-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-08-25
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-11-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-07-07
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2003-01-22
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
2002-11-04
🏢
Company incorporated
As A.J COOPER (BUILDERS) LTD
2002-11-04
➕
COOPER, Richard James appointed
secretary
2002-11-04
➕
COOPER, Gerard Wayne appointed
director
2002-11-04
➕
COOPER, Richard James appointed
director
2002-11-04
➕
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-11-04
➖
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-11-04
➕
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2002-11-04
➖
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

+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 "COOPER" — 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 81 — 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 81 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Gerard Wayne Cooper Individual · British · DOB 07/1968 · age 58	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

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Similar companies

Active · Construction · NR postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
A C PEMBROKE (CONSTRUCTION) LTD→ 06955216 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
ADI DRY LINERS LTD→ 11414203 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
ADS UTILITIES LTD→ 14155749 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
ADVANCED PROPERTY AND HOLDINGS LTD→ 13364061 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
ADW CONSTRUCTION LTD→ 15142110 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
AF RENEWABLE LTD→ 14194222 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
AF SCAFFOLDING GREAT YARMOUTH LTD→ 11800825 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
AFFORDABLE DRAINS LTD→ 16083617 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
AG ELEC TECH LIMITED→ 15765338 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
AGM WELDING LIMITED→ 16552422 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AH HEATING AND PLUMBING LTD→ 13096246 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
AHI GROUP LIMITED→ 10728107 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—

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

Incorporated2002-11-04

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC42990 — Construction of other civil engineering projects n.e.c.

Registered office

Saxon House Hellesdon Park Road

Drayton High Road

Norwich

Norfolk

NR6 5DR

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-09-30

Last made up to: 2025-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-02

Last: 2025-10-19

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

COOPER, Richard James→

secretary · appointed 2002-11-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

COOPER, Gerard Wayne→

director · ~58y · appointed 2002-11-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

COOPER, Richard James→

director · ~81y · appointed 2002-11-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-11-04 · resigned 2002-11-04

Resigned

INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-11-04 · resigned 2002-11-04

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	Barclays Barclays Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	22/01/2003	—

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