HARDSTATE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

04845277 · ltd · incorporated 2003-07-25

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Dec 2024

Net worth

£-66.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

76/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Manufacture of beer

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

62020Information technology consultancy activities

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (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, 2 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, 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

76/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £66,410

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

-£66k

Current Assets

£9k

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£-64.7k	—
Current assets	£9.2k	—
Net assets	£-66.4k	—
Average employees	—	200

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

filing

• 1 officers

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 officers

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand

2026-06-27
➖
HIDE, Henry resigned
secretary
2026-06-27
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-08-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-08-08
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2017-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-10-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-10-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-16
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-08-16
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2004-11-15
➕
HIDE, Henry appointed
secretary
2004-11-15
➖
HIDE, Jennifer resigned
secretary
2003-08-07
➕
HIDE, Sarah appointed
director
2003-08-07
➕
JACKSON, Mark Somerville appointed
director
2003-08-07
➕
HIDE, Jennifer appointed
secretary
2003-07-29
➖
HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-07-29
➖
HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2003-07-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As HARDSTATE LIMITED
2003-07-25
➕
HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-07-25
➕
HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

68/100

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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

66/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Ms Sarah Jane Hide Individual · British · DOB 05/1970 · age 56	25–50%	25–50%	board controlsig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence	25/07/2016
Mr Mark Somerville Jackson Individual · British · DOB 05/1970 · age 56	25–50%	25–50%	board controlsig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence	25/07/2016

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

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DERWENT & DUNNE LIMITED→ 15108503 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
FOXHAY LIMITED→ 10675585 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
FRUTAROM (UK) LIMITED→ 03780105 · est 1999 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	26y	—	—
FUNCTION 5 CIC→ 15763866 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
G'S GROWERS MUSHROOMS LIMITED→ 10185655 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
HARRY SPECTERS LIMITED→ 08298754 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	—	—
HAZEY BAKES LTD→ 16595598 · 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

Incorporated2003-07-25

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC11050 — Manufacture of beer

Registered office

Roughacre The Green

Castle Camps

Cambridge

CB21 4TA

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-08

Last: 2025-07-25

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

HIDE, Sarah→

director · ~56y · appointed 2003-08-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

JACKSON, Mark Somerville→

director · ~56y · appointed 2003-08-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HIDE, Henry→

secretary · appointed 2004-11-15 · resigned 2026-06-27

Resigned

HIDE, Jennifer→

secretary · appointed 2003-08-07 · resigned 2004-11-15

Resigned

HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-07-25 · resigned 2003-07-29

Resigned

HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-07-25 · resigned 2003-07-29

Resigned

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

Recent filings (61 total)

termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM02

2026-06-27

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-08-22