1ST MARK LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
05440966 · ltd · incorporated 2005-05-03
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 14.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
year to May 2025
Net worth
£23.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 47640
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (63/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 14.3y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 14.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
45 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
65
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £23,861
Cash YoY
+32%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£37k
↑ 32% YoY
Net Worth
£24k
↑ 7.0% YoY
Current Assets
£82k
↑ 8.4% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£16k£33k£49k£66k£82kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£23.9k£22.3k
Current assets£82.2k£75.8k
Cash£36.9k£28.1k
Debtors£1.7k£3.0k
Net assets£23.9k£22.3k

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 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-02-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-04-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-02-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-02-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-02-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-05-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2016-02-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-05-27
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-02-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-05-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2012-01-16
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Sheffield & Regional Properties Limited
  18. 2005-05-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 1ST MARK LIMITED
  19. 2005-05-03
    HARDY, Catherine Marcia appointed
    secretary
  20. 2005-05-03
    HARDY, Catherine Marcia appointed
    director
  21. 2005-05-03
    HARDY, Mark Ian appointed
    director

Owner dependency

76/100
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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Mark Ian Hardy
Individual · British · DOB 03/1973 · age 53
2550%
25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mrs Catherine Marcia Hardy
Individual · British · DOB 06/1979 · age 47
2550%
25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2005-05-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47640 — SIC 47640

Registered office

Unit 10 Golborne Enterprise Park
Golborne
Warrington
WA3 3DP

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-17
Last: 2025-05-03

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

HARDY, Catherine Marcia
secretary · appointed 2005-05-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARDY, Catherine Marcia
director · ~47y · appointed 2005-05-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARDY, Mark Ian
director · ~53y · appointed 2005-05-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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
TypeProperties
outstanding
Sheffield & Regional Properties
Sheffield & Regional Properties Limited
Rent deposit deed1 property16/01/2012
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (45 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-02-22