DESIGNWORKS (CHESHIRE) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

06197678 · ltd · incorporated 2007-04-02

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (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, 1 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

3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

51 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Average employees	6	600

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 address
• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 address
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand

2026-05-08
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-05-08
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-19
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-03-15
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-03-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-20
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2018-12-17
➕
HENDERSON, Terence Michael appointed
director
2018-01-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2007-04-02
🏢
Company incorporated
As DESIGNWORKS (CHESHIRE) LIMITED
2007-04-02
➕
ROBINSON, Ann appointed
secretary
2007-04-02
➕
HENDERSON, Jayne Ann appointed
director

Owner dependency

84/100

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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100

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 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Jayne Ann Henderson Individual · British · DOB 08/1962 · age 64	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	02/04/2017

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

Similar companies

Active · Wholesale & distribution · M postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
AFAQ FOR TRADING LTD→ 15377740 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
AIMAN ABDULLAH ABDO AL-MUSHIKI FOR GENERAL TRADING CO LTD→ 16959368 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AJ THREADS LIMITED→ 16653917 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AJAB INTERNATIONAL LIMITED→ 15347551 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
AJN TRADERS (UK) LTD→ 15656739 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
AJS SUPERSTORE LTD→ 15853080 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
AK MOBILE HUB LIMITED→ 11732730 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
AK TRADERS MCR LTD→ 16659856 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AKAKUS LTD→ 09831797 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
AKRAM AL-SALOUL FOR TRADING LTD→ 16784575 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AL ADWAA FOR GENERAL SUPPLIES LTD→ 16990153 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AL AFIA TRADING LIMITED→ 16795695 · 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

Incorporated2007-04-02

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade

Registered office

3rd Floor Eastgate

Castle St

Manchester

M3 4LZ

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-12

Last: 2026-03-29

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

ROBINSON, Ann→

secretary · appointed 2007-04-02

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HENDERSON, Jayne Ann→

director · ~64y · appointed 2007-04-02

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HENDERSON, Terence Michael→

director · ~59y · appointed 2018-12-17

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (51 total)

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-05-08

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2026-05-08

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-05-08