ASHTON HOUSE DESIGN LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
05072670 · ltd · incorporated 2004-03-15
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.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 21.7y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£404.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale of furniture, lighting, and similar (not musical instruments or scores) in specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Deleverage or restructure. Leverage at 100% of assets — consider sale of non-core assets or equity injection. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 21.7y

50/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 21.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
68 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £404,149
High leverage
Liabilities are 100% of total assets
Net assets shrinking
Down £40,002 YoY
Leverage
100%
Liabilities / Total assets

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£404k
↓ 9.0% YoY
Current Assets
£258k
↓ 28% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£89k£178k£266k£355k£444kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£444.7k£551.7k
Current assets£258.2k£357.1k
Net assets£404.1k£444.2k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-29
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2021-08-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-07-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-02-13
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2017-03-15
    📄
    change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH04
  12. 2017-03-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-06-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-04-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2016-03-30
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2010-03-10
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Simon Bantock and Caroline Bantock
  17. 2006-07-01
    ➕
    M G ASSOCIATES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  18. 2006-07-01
    ➖
    DURTNAIL ROWDEN DEVELOPMENT AGENCY LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2004-11-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  20. 2004-09-09
    ➕
    BANTOCK, Simon Edward appointed
    director
  21. 2004-09-09
    ➕
    PALK, Caroline Anne appointed
    director
  22. 2004-09-09
    ➖
    ROWDEN, Richard John resigned
    secretary
  23. 2004-09-09
    ➕
    DURTNAIL ROWDEN DEVELOPMENT AGENCY LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  24. 2004-09-09
    ➖
    WINSOR, Sandra resigned
    director
  25. 2004-03-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASHTON HOUSE DESIGN LIMITED
  26. 2004-03-15
    ➕
    ROWDEN, Richard John appointed
    secretary
  27. 2004-03-15
    ➕
    WINSOR, Sandra appointed
    director

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
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 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Simon Edward Bantock
Individual · British · DOB 02/1959 · age 67
——sig. influencesignificant influence · trust interest · firm interest01/09/2016

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
Incorporated2004-03-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47599 — Retail sale of furniture, lighting, and similar (not musical instruments or scores) in specialised stores

Registered office

Watcombe Priors Lodge
Teignmouth Road
Torquay
TQ1 4SQ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-29
Last: 2026-03-15

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

M G ASSOCIATES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2006-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BANTOCK, Simon Edward→
director · ~67y · appointed 2004-09-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PALK, Caroline Anne→
director · ~61y · appointed 2004-09-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ROWDEN, Richard John→
secretary · appointed 2004-03-15 · resigned 2004-09-09
Resigned
DURTNAIL ROWDEN DEVELOPMENT AGENCY LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2004-09-09 · resigned 2006-07-01
Resigned
WINSOR, Sandra→
director · ~45y · appointed 2004-03-15 · resigned 2004-09-09
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Simon Bantock and Caroline Bantock
Legal charge1 property10/03/2010—
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Debenture1 property04/11/2004—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (68 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-21
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-25