FIRST CHOICE LANDSCAPES LIMITED
Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 19.9y
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 19.9 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.
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsHover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | — | £167.6k |
| Current assets | — | £20.9k |
| Net assets | — | £139.4k |
| Average employees | 100 | — |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 address
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-01📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2025-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-12-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-03-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-03-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-21📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-09-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-01-07📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-05-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2010-03-31➖CHAMBERS, Derek resigneddirector
- 2006-07-11🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
- 2002-12-20🏢Company incorporatedAs FIRST CHOICE LANDSCAPES LIMITED
- 2002-12-20➕CHAMBERS, Neil James appointedsecretary
- 2002-12-20➕CHAMBERS, Neil James appointeddirector
- 2002-12-20➕A.C. SECRETARIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-12-20➖A.C. SECRETARIES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-12-20➕CHAMBERS, Derek appointeddirector
- 2002-12-20➕A.C. DIRECTORS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2002-12-20➖A.C. DIRECTORS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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
cleanShareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Neil James Chambers Individual · British · DOB 09/1975 · age 51 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 20/12/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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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 →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
Registered office
Filing status
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 11/07/2006 | — |