A R WOODWARD LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04947710 · ltd · incorporated 2003-10-30
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale in non-specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 75). 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 (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 22.5y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 22.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: low (54/100)Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.
Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
53 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
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 (21 events)Click to expand
- 2025-07-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-07-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-06-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-06-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-24📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2016-06-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-09📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-06-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-12-12📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-12-12📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2003-11-26🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
- 2003-10-30🏢Company incorporatedAs A R WOODWARD LIMITED
- 2003-10-30➕WOODWARD, Gillian Moira appointedsecretary
- 2003-10-30➕WOODWARD, Alan Richard appointeddirector
- 2003-10-30➕RWL REGISTRARS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2003-10-30➖RWL REGISTRARS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "WOODWARD" — 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 75 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
100/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- 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
cleanNo 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 Alan Richard Woodward Individual · British · DOB 09/1951 · age 75 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% 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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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
8 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
Incorporated2003-10-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47190 — Other retail sale in non-specialised stores
Registered office
36 & 38 Cross Hayes
Malmesbury
SN16 9BG
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-13
Last: 2025-10-30
Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)
WOODWARD, Gillian Moira→
Activesecretary · appointed 2003-10-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
WOODWARD, Alan Richard→
Activedirector · ~75y · appointed 2003-10-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
RWL REGISTRARS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-10-30 · resigned 2003-10-30
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 26/11/2003 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (53 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-11-06