MERLIN BREWING COMPANY LTD

🌳Matureactive

07100113 · ltd · incorporated 2009-12-09

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 Aug 2025

Net worth

£55.1k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Manufacture of beer

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -36% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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

4 officers (4 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

35 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £55,088

Net assets shrinking

Down £24,550 YoY

Cash YoY

-36%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£64k

↓ 36% YoY

Net Worth

£55k

↓ 31% YoY

Current Assets

£88k

↓ 23% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-08-31	2024-08-31
Total assets	£59.5k	£83.9k
Current assets	£88.4k	£114.2k
Cash	£64.5k	£101.0k
Debtors	£19.5k	£8.4k
Net assets	£55.1k	£79.6k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand

2026-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-30
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-31
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-08-04
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2017-08-01
➕
PEART, Mark Gavin appointed
secretary
2017-05-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-12-10
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-06-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-12-09
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2009-12-09
🏢
Company incorporated
As MERLIN BREWING COMPANY LTD
2009-12-09
➕
PEART, Susan Lesley appointed
secretary
2009-12-09
➕
PEART, David appointed
director
2009-12-09
➕
PEART, Susan Lesley appointed
director

Owner dependency

91/100

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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
+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 66. 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 17 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr David Peart Individual · British · DOB 09/1960 · age 66	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016
Mrs Susan Lesley Peart Individual · British · DOB 04/1963 · age 63	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.

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Similar companies

Active · Food & drink · CW postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
HAYFIELDS DAIRY LIMITED→ 13280377 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
MERRYFALL CAKES BAKERY LIMITED→ 15145961 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
NAOMISDRINKS LTD→ 15187112 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
NWF AGRICULTURE LIMITED→ 01117234 · est 1973 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	52y	—	—
ODD SOCKS SAUCES LTD→ 15504441 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
OPTIFUEL NUTRITION LTD→ 16263005 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ORNUA NANTWICH LIMITED→ 10522472 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
PACE'S FARM EGGS LIMITED→ 04926264 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
R & L WARD FARMS LIMITED→ 07075941 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
RENEW CREWE WEST LIMITED→ 12017019 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
SA SAUCES LTD→ 09119870 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
SECOND SON DISTILLERY LIMITED→ 10420949 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2009-12-09

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC11050 — Manufacture of beer

Registered office

52 Bessancourt

Holmes Chapel

Cheshire

CW4 7NB

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-01

Last: 2025-11-17

Officers (4 active · 0 resigned)

PEART, Mark Gavin→

secretary · appointed 2017-08-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

PEART, Susan Lesley→

secretary · appointed 2009-12-09

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

PEART, David→

director · ~66y · appointed 2009-12-09

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

PEART, Susan Lesley→

director · ~63y · appointed 2009-12-09

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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