A BELL HOLDINGS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
05395736 · ltd · incorporated 2005-03-17
Investment thesis
Looks cheap but ownership + security both unclear — probable value trap.
Why interesting: Headline metrics may be attractive.
Why risky: No PSC visibility combined with multiple live charges; transacting likely slow and expensive.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 20.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of other holding companies n.e.c.
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 80). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 20.9y

65/100
clean up first

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 20.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (63/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
12 officers (6 active, 12 linked, 8 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
86 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.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-31
Average employees500

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (36 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-07-26
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2021-12-20
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2021-12-15
    ➖
    PAYNE, Andrew Christopher resigned
    director
  8. 2021-12-07
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2021-12-01
    ➕
    RICHARDSON, David John appointed
    director
  10. 2021-10-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-08-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2021-08-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2020-11-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-04-01
    ➕
    FERRIS, Lee Michael appointed
    director
  19. 2015-02-07
    ➖
    KIRKHAM, John Edward resigned
    director
  20. 2008-04-01
    ➕
    BARTON, Michael Philip appointed
    secretary
  21. 2008-03-31
    ➖
    WILSON, Nicholas Hugh Murray resigned
    secretary
  22. 2008-03-31
    ➖
    WILSON, Nicholas Hugh Murray resigned
    director
  23. 2005-07-12
    ➕
    BELL, Nicholas John appointed
    director
  24. 2005-07-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
  25. 2005-07-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
  26. 2005-04-08
    ➕
    BUSTIN, Michael Dennis appointed
    director
  27. 2005-04-08
    ➕
    HYNDA, Zenon appointed
    director
  28. 2005-04-08
    ➕
    WILSON, Nicholas Hugh Murray appointed
    secretary
  29. 2005-04-08
    ➖
    SHOOSMITHS SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  30. 2005-04-08
    ➕
    KIRKHAM, John Edward appointed
    director
  31. 2005-04-08
    ➕
    PAYNE, Andrew Christopher appointed
    director
  32. 2005-04-08
    ➕
    WILSON, Nicholas Hugh Murray appointed
    director
  33. 2005-04-08
    ➖
    SHOOSMITHS DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  34. 2005-03-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A BELL HOLDINGS LIMITED
  35. 2005-03-17
    ➕
    SHOOSMITHS SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  36. 2005-03-17
    ➕
    SHOOSMITHS DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

80/100
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
  • -5 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BELL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.

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 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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.)
🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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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
Incorporated2005-03-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64209 — Activities of other holding companies n.e.c.

Registered office

Kingsthorpe Road
Northampton
Northamptonshire
NN2 6LT

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last: 2026-03-17

Officers (6 active · 6 resigned)

BARTON, Michael Philip→
secretary · appointed 2008-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BELL, Nicholas John→
director · ~75y · appointed 2005-07-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BUSTIN, Michael Dennis→
director · ~80y · appointed 2005-04-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FERRIS, Lee Michael→
director · ~54y · appointed 2016-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HYNDA, Zenon→
director · ~71y · appointed 2005-04-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RICHARDSON, David John→
director · ~54y · appointed 2021-12-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WILSON, Nicholas Hugh Murray→
secretary · appointed 2005-04-08 · resigned 2008-03-31
Resigned
SHOOSMITHS SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2005-03-17 · resigned 2005-04-08
Resigned
KIRKHAM, John Edward→
director · ~78y · appointed 2005-04-08 · resigned 2015-02-07
Resigned
PAYNE, Andrew Christopher→
director · ~65y · appointed 2005-04-08 · resigned 2021-12-15
Resigned
WILSON, Nicholas Hugh Murray→
director · ~63y · appointed 2005-04-08 · resigned 2008-03-31
Resigned
SHOOSMITHS DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2005-03-17 · resigned 2005-04-08
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
An omnibus guarantee and set-off agreement1 property12/07/2005—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
Debenture1 property12/07/2005—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (86 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-16
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-30
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-12-20
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-08-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-08-25