A.B. SAFETY SOLUTIONS (UK) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

07450325 · ltd · incorporated 2010-11-24

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 Nov 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Sector: Administrative & support services

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

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	2024-11-30	2023-11-30

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2025-08-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-07-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-08-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-07-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-07-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-05-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-05-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-08-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-08-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-08-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-01-11
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-08-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-12-22
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-08-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2010-11-24
🏢
Company incorporated
As A.B. SAFETY SOLUTIONS (UK) LIMITED
2010-11-24
➕
THOMPSON, David Christopher appointed
secretary
2010-11-24
➕
BARRELL, Andrew Peter appointed
director
2010-11-24
➕
BARRELL, Patricia 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 16 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 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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Andrew Peter Barrell Individual · British · DOB 02/1968 · age 58	50–75%	—	50-75% shares	24/11/2016

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

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ABBEY WINDOWS (GOXHILL) LIMITED→ 06887958 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
ABBEY WINDOWS DOORS AND CONSERVATORIES LIMITED→ 03299746 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	29y	—	—
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2010-11-24

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

39 Louth Road

Grimsby

DN33 2HP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-08-31

Last made up to: 2024-11-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-10

Last: 2026-02-24

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

THOMPSON, David Christopher→

secretary · appointed 2010-11-24

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BARRELL, Andrew Peter→

director · ~58y · appointed 2010-11-24

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BARRELL, Patricia Ann→

director · ~64y · appointed 2010-11-24

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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