ABBEY SIGNS (MIDLANDS) LTD

🌳Matureactive

04590377 · ltd · incorporated 2002-11-14

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 Nov 2024

Net worth

£22.7k

book net assets

Opportunity

81/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

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

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

64 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

81/100Exceptional

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £22,675

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£23k

↑ 45% YoY

Current Assets

£39k

↑ 161% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-11-30	2023-11-30
Total assets	£22.7k	£15.6k
Current assets	£38.9k	£14.9k
Net assets	£22.7k	£15.6k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 2 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 2 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand

2026-04-22
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-22
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-22
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-22
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-09-30
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-08-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-08-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-05-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-08-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-11-18
➖
WILLIAMS, Brian resigned
director
2015-10-27
➕
FREEMAN, David Richard appointed
director
2015-03-04
➖
WILLIAMS, Linda Joyce resigned
secretary
2009-10-09
➕
HYLAND, Andrew James appointed
director
2002-11-20
➕
WILLIAMS, Linda Joyce appointed
secretary
2002-11-20
➕
WILLIAMS, Brian appointed
director
2002-11-19
➖
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-11-19
➖
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2002-11-14
🏢
Company incorporated
As ABBEY SIGNS (MIDLANDS) LTD
2002-11-14
➕
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-11-14
➕
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

76/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100

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 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
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
Mr Andrew James Hyland Individual · British · DOB 01/1962 · age 64	50–75%	50–75%	50-75% shares · 50-75% voting	06/04/2016
Mr David Richard Freeman Individual · British · DOB 06/1970 · age 56	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016

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

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Active · Manufacturing · B postcode area

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02675250 LIMITED→ 02675250 · est 1992 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	34y	—	—
3D TIMBERWORKS LTD→ 16922961 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4D FULL ARCH LIMITED→ 16503205 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4TRESS4GATES LTD→ 05938901 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	—	—
A.B.R. (SPECIALIST WELDING) LIMITED→ 01795984 · est 1984 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	42y	—	—
AANGEL LTD→ 10982392 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
AARTISAN CNC WIRE FORMING SYSTEMS LTD→ 13425628 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
AAS VEHICLE SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 09354188 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
AB TAILORING LTD→ 15277921 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ABACUS CASH REGISTERS LIMITED→ 03900262 · est 1999 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	26y	—	—
ABBEYDALE MACHINE & TOOL COMPANY LTD.→ 06966037 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
ABBVIAME LTD→ 16640959 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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

Incorporated2002-11-14

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Registered office

1046 Graphics Block Woodbrook Bristol Road

Selly Oak

Birmingham

B29 6LJ

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-08-31

Last made up to: 2024-11-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-27

Last: 2026-05-13

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

FREEMAN, David Richard→

director · ~56y · appointed 2015-10-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HYLAND, Andrew James→

director · ~64y · appointed 2009-10-09

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

WILLIAMS, Linda Joyce→

secretary · appointed 2002-11-20 · resigned 2015-03-04

Resigned

FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-11-14 · resigned 2002-11-19

Resigned

WILLIAMS, Brian→

director · ~76y · appointed 2002-11-20 · resigned 2015-11-18

Resigned

FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-11-14 · resigned 2002-11-19

Resigned

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

Recent filings (64 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-05-13

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-04-22

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-04-22

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2026-04-22

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2026-04-22

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2025-09-30