ESMOS LTD
🌳Matureactive
07967611 · ltd · incorporated 2012-02-28
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 Jan 2026
Net worth
£111.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Processing and preserving of meat
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 47220Retail sale of meat and meat products in specialised stores
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with exceptional profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -31% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 13.9y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 13.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (77/100)Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.
Company profile
address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
37 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £111,912
Net assets shrinking
Down £5,049 YoY
Cash YoY
-31%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£18k
↓ 31% YoY
Net Worth
£112k
↓ 4.3% YoY
Current Assets
£45k
↓ 17% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2026-01-31 | 2025-01-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £122.0k | £133.8k |
| Current assets | £45.3k | £54.6k |
| Cash | £18.2k | £26.3k |
| Debtors | £10.3k | £11.4k |
| Net assets | £111.9k | £117.0k |
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 (21 events)Click to expand
- 2026-03-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-03-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-27📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2021-03-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-03-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-27📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2017-11-27🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2017-06-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-04-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-03-21📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-10-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2012-08-06🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Mr Philip Anthony Eakers and Mrs Rita Mary Eakers
- 2012-02-28🏢Company incorporatedAs ESMOS LTD
- 2012-02-28➕COLE, Emma appointedsecretary
- 2012-02-28➕COLE, Emma appointeddirector
- 2012-02-28➕NICHOLLS, Stephen Brian appointeddirector
Owner dependency
66/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
59/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 14 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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Stephen Brian Nicholls Individual · British · DOB 12/1967 · age 59 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 27/04/2021 |
Miss Emma Cole Individual · British · DOB 03/1971 · age 55 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/08/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Food & drink · EX postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CORONA SOFT DRINKS LTD→ 16205825 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| COSTERMONGER GROUP LTD→ 12099545 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| DEVON DAIRY BRANDS→ 13590601 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| DEVON DELICIOUS LIMITED→ 11977491 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| DEVON RUSK COMPANY LIMITED→ 14251315 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| DEVONVALE LIMITED→ 04399540 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| DOLLYMAL'S KITCHEN LTD→ 16831362 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| DUNBIA (UK)→ 03382084 · est 1997 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 28y | — | — |
| DUNN BROTHERS LIMITED→ 05207910 · est 2004 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| ELECTRIC BAKERY BUDE LTD→ 12149864 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ELLIS BAKERY LTD→ 11085075 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| EVELYN HEALTH LIMITED→ 14484240 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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.
See pricing →Company details
Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2012-02-28
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC10110 — Processing and preserving of meat
Registered office
128 High Street
Crediton
Devon
EX17 3LQ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-10-31
Last made up to: 2026-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-05
Last: 2025-11-21
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
Active
NICHOLLS, Stephen Brian→
Activedirector · ~59y · appointed 2012-02-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Mr Philip Anthony Eakers and Mrs Rita Mary Eakers | Debenture | 1 property | 06/08/2012 | 27/11/2017 |
Recent filings (37 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-04
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2021-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-10