BERNARD DRU OAK LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

07323474 · ltd · incorporated 2010-07-22

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 Jul 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Sawmilling and planing of wood

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 75). 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

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

31 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	2024-07-31	2023-07-31
Average employees	100	100

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

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2025-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2018-04-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-04-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-07-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-06-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2010-07-22
🏢
Company incorporated
As BERNARD DRU OAK LIMITED
2010-07-22
➕
DRU, Alexander Bernard Molyneux appointed
secretary
2010-07-22
➕
DRU, Auberon Alexander Bernard appointed
director
2010-07-22
➕
DRU, Catherine Margaret appointed
director

Owner dependency

83/100

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 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

89/100

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 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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 Auberon Alexander Bernard Dru Individual · British · DOB 12/1951 · age 75	25–50%	25–50%	sig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · significant influence	06/04/2016
Mrs Catherine Margaret Dru Individual · British · DOB 02/1960 · age 66	25–50%	25–50%	sig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · significant influence	06/04/2016

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

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

Incorporated2010-07-22

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC16100 — Sawmilling and planing of wood

Registered office

Bickham Manor

Timberscombe

Minehead

Somerset

TA24 7UA

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-27

Last: 2025-09-13

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

DRU, Alexander Bernard Molyneux→

secretary · appointed 2010-07-22

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DRU, Auberon Alexander Bernard→

director · ~75y · appointed 2010-07-22

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DRU, Catherine Margaret→

director · ~66y · appointed 2010-07-22

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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