ALISON GARDINER DESIGNS LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
06716736 · ltd · incorporated 2008-10-07
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 7.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Wholesale of household goods (other than musical instruments) n.e.c.
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive 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. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 7.9y
70/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 7.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
57 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
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
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 | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 10 | 1000 |
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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-08-05📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-08-05📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2025-07-17📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-09-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-10📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-12-10📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-13📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-09-13📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-10-29📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-07-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-16📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2020-02-27🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Santander UK PLC
- 2020-01-28📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2020-01-28🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2019-09-30📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2019-09-30📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2018-07-26🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Gapcap Limited
- 2010-03-01➕GREGORY, Alastair George appointeddirector
- 2008-10-07🏢Company incorporatedAs ALISON GARDINER DESIGNS LIMITED
- 2008-10-07➕GARDINER, Alison Mary appointeddirector
- 2008-10-07➕THEYDON SECRETARIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-secretary
- 2008-10-07➖THEYDON SECRETARIES LIMITED resignedcorporate-secretary
- 2008-10-07➕DAVIES, Elizabeth Ann appointeddirector
- 2008-10-07➖DAVIES, Elizabeth Ann resigneddirector
Owner dependency
98/100
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
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "GARDINER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
79/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong 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.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 18 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 18 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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ms Alison Mary Gardiner Individual · British · DOB 07/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Alastair George Gregory Individual · British · DOB 02/1959 · age 67 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
🔒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 →Similar companies
Active · Wholesale & distribution · ST postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.M.L. WEDDING BANDS LTD→ 06664963 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| A&M CRAFT CHARISMA LIMITED→ 16411133 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADVSERVICE LIMITED→ 10454353 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| AETERNA TRADING LTD→ 16936233 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AG ENGINEERING SUPPLIES LIMITED→ 12152384 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| AI DECHO SERVICE LIMITED→ 15125520 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AKS MACHINE HIRE LIMITED→ 16254228 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AL NAWAR TRADING LTD→ 15560203 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AL-MAQTRI AND MASHRAH IMPORT AND EXPORT CO., LTD→ 16055631 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ALBION GLOBAL TRADERS LTD→ 16644561 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ALCOCHROM LTD→ 13791166 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ALISON HANDLING SERVICES LIMITED→ 02978643 · est 1994 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 31y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2008-10-07
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46499 — Wholesale of household goods (other than musical instruments) n.e.c.
Registered office
Times Square Building
Longton
Stoke On Trent
Staffordshire
ST3 1DB
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-21
Last: 2025-10-07
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
GARDINER, Alison Mary→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2008-10-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
GREGORY, Alastair George→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2010-03-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
THEYDON SECRETARIES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-secretary · appointed 2008-10-07 · resigned 2008-10-07
DAVIES, Elizabeth Ann→
Resigneddirector · ~69y · appointed 2008-10-07 · resigned 2008-10-07
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Santander Santander UK PLC | A registered charge | — | 27/02/2020 | — | |
| satisfied | Gapcap Gapcap Limited | A registered charge | — | 26/07/2018 | 28/01/2020 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (57 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-29
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-08-05
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-08-05
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-07-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-30
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-12-10
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-12-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-29