ARTHUR FORBES & SON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04831042 · ltd · incorporated 2003-07-14
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 May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 84-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 84). 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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
7 officers (4 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
65 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Average employees500400

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-01
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2024-10-01
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2024-08-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-10-13
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  6. 2023-10-13
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  7. 2023-10-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-09-27
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  9. 2022-09-27
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  10. 2022-09-23
    ➕
    FORBES, Donna appointed
    secretary
  11. 2022-09-23
    ➖
    FORBES, Beryl resigned
    secretary
  12. 2022-08-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2021-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2020-10-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-08-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2003-07-15
    ➕
    FORBES, Arthur appointed
    director
  19. 2003-07-15
    ➕
    FORBES, Beryl appointed
    director
  20. 2003-07-15
    ➕
    FORBES, Ian appointed
    director
  21. 2003-07-15
    ➕
    FORBES, Beryl appointed
    secretary
  22. 2003-07-15
    ➖
    WITHENSHAW, Robert Martin resigned
    secretary
  23. 2003-07-15
    ➖
    MARSHALL, Robert George Bruce resigned
    director
  24. 2003-07-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARTHUR FORBES & SON LIMITED
  25. 2003-07-14
    ➕
    WITHENSHAW, Robert Martin appointed
    secretary
  26. 2003-07-14
    ➕
    MARSHALL, Robert George Bruce appointed
    director

Owner dependency

98/100
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
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "FORBES" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 84 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100
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 84 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

3 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Donna Forbes
Individual · British · DOB 08/1977 · age 49
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting09/10/2023
Mr Arthur Forbes
Individual · British · DOB 07/1942 · age 84
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr Ian Forbes
Individual · British · DOB 10/1971 · age 55
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Beryl Forbesceased 09/10/2023· 25-50% shares

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

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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
Incorporated2003-07-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Turner Lodge
Brown Edge Road
Buxton
Derbyshire
SK17 7AA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-07
Last: 2025-09-23

Officers (4 active · 3 resigned)

FORBES, Donna→
secretary · appointed 2022-09-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORBES, Arthur→
director · ~84y · appointed 2003-07-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORBES, Beryl→
director · ~81y · appointed 2003-07-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORBES, Ian→
director · ~55y · appointed 2003-07-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORBES, Beryl→
secretary · appointed 2003-07-15 · resigned 2022-09-23
Resigned
WITHENSHAW, Robert Martin→
secretary · appointed 2003-07-14 · resigned 2003-07-15
Resigned
MARSHALL, Robert George Bruce→
director · ~71y · appointed 2003-07-14 · resigned 2003-07-15
Resigned

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

Recent filings (65 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-10-01
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-10-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-13
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-10-13
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-17
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2022-09-27
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2022-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-27