HOPE AND ARLEY LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
08184527 · ltd · incorporated 2012-08-20
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 Feb 2024
Net worth
£-15.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10890
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.
Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (72/100)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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
33 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 · FRS 105 (micro)Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £15,286
Key financials
1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£15k
Current Assets
£17k
Current Liabilities
—
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2024-02-29 |
|---|---|
| Total assets | £-14.6k |
| Current assets | £16.9k |
| Net assets | £-15.3k |
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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-04-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-02-02📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2024-02-02📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2024-02-02📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2024-02-02📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-02-01➕HOPE-JOHNSTONE, Andrew Lachlan appointeddirector
- 2024-02-01📄change-account-reference-date-company-current-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2023-05-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-08-31📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2020-03-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-04-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2012-08-20🏢Company incorporatedAs HOPE AND ARLEY LIMITED
- 2012-08-20➕HOPE-JOHNSTONE, Jane Frances appointeddirector
Owner dependency
86/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
- +No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
29/100
Weak signalLimited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.
SIGNALS
- primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — HOPE-JOHNSTONE, Andrew Lachlan (same surname) appointed 2024-02-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Andrew Lachlan Hope-Johnstone Individual · British · DOB 10/1986 · age 40 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/02/2024 |
Mrs Jane Frances Hope-Johnstone Individual · British · DOB 07/1959 · age 67 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 20/08/2016 |
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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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
Incorporated2012-08-20
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC10890 — SIC 10890
Registered office
247 Turleigh
Bradford-On-Avon
Wiltshire
BA15 2HG
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-29
Last: 2025-08-15
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
HOPE-JOHNSTONE, Andrew Lachlan→
Activedirector · ~40y · appointed 2024-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HOPE-JOHNSTONE, Jane Frances→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2012-08-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (33 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-04-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-22
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2024-02-02
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-02-02
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-02-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-02-02
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2024-02-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-18