A.G.BICKNELL & CO LTD
🌳Matureactive
07775902 · ltd · incorporated 2011-09-15
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£101.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other engineering activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 83-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 83). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -86% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
4 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
30 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £101,356
Cash draining
Cash down 86% YoY
Cash YoY
-86%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£2k
↓ 86% YoY
Net Worth
£101k
↑ 16% YoY
Current Assets
£49k
↓ 7.5% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-04-30 | 2024-04-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £104.7k | £96.0k |
| Current assets | £49.2k | £53.2k |
| Cash | £2.0k | £14.6k |
| Debtors | £30.1k | £17.4k |
| Net assets | £101.4k | £87.6k |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2026-01-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-01-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-10-06📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-11-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-09-23📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2013-12-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2011-09-15🏢Company incorporatedAs A.G.BICKNELL & CO LTD
- 2011-09-15➕BICKNELL, Heather appointedsecretary
- 2011-09-15➕BICKNELL, Heather appointeddirector
- 2011-09-15➕KNOWLES BICKNELL, Robert appointeddirector
Owner dependency
88/100
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 "BICKNELL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 83 — 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 70+: Senior director is approximately 83 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 15 years.
- 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
4 active beneficial owners · fragmented| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
David Robert Bicknell Individual · British · DOB 05/1963 · age 63 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/07/2016 |
Mrs Heather Bicknell Individual · British · DOB 09/1943 · age 83 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/07/2016 |
Andrew Boyce Bicknell Individual · British · DOB 08/1973 · age 53 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/07/2016 |
Mr Robert Knowles Bicknell Individual · British · DOB 06/1943 · age 83 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/07/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| ADROIT ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS LTD→ 14314399 · est 2022 | — | — | £3.1k | — | 3y | — | — |
| ADROIT SMJT LIMITED→ 11476815 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AELFREDA LTD→ 13255739 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| AER VENTURES LTD→ 09283300 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
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| AESPECT LIMITED→ 07169672 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2011-09-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities
Registered office
38 Newtown Road
Liphook
Hampshire
GU30 7DX
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-29
Last: 2025-09-15
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
BICKNELL, Heather→
Activedirector · ~83y · appointed 2011-09-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
KNOWLES BICKNELL, Robert→
Activedirector · ~83y · appointed 2011-09-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (30 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-09