WHAT A HOOT DAY NURSERY LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
08729870 · ltd · incorporated 2013-10-11
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 8.4y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Oct 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Child day-care activities
Sector: Human health & social work
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (73/100, director aged 75). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 8.4y
70/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 8.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 23/100 — clean.
Data confidence
Overall: high (82/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 6 with DOB)
87
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
9 connected companies via shared directors
72
Filing history
58 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.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
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 | 2024-10-31 | 2023-10-31 |
|---|
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 (36 events)Click to expand
- 2025-03-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-02-08📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2024-02-08🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2024-02-02📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2024-02-02📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2024-01-31📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2024-01-31🔓Charge satisfied #3
- 2023-10-30📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-10-16➕BARNES, Nichola appointeddirector
- 2023-09-04📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC02
- 2023-09-04📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2023-09-04📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2023-08-31➖MILLEN, Patricia Elizabeth resigneddirector
- 2023-08-23📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2023-08-23📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2023-06-22➖HURST, Alexander Hugh Magill resignedsecretary
- 2023-06-22➖HURST, Alexander Hugh Magill resigneddirector
- 2023-01-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-06📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-10-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-05-21📄second-filing-change-details-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · RP04PSC04
- 2021-05-21📄second-filing-change-details-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · RP04PSC05
- 2021-04-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-07🔒Charge registered #3Lender: Barclays Security Trustee Limited
- 2018-04-25➕HURST, Alexander Hugh Magill appointeddirector
- 2018-02-07🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 2018-01-22🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 2014-01-27➖HIRST, Alexander Hugh Magill resigneddirector
- 2013-10-11🏢Company incorporatedAs WHAT A HOOT DAY NURSERY LIMITED
- 2013-10-11➕BUCHAN, William appointeddirector
- 2013-10-11➕HURST, Hugh Magill appointeddirector
- 2013-10-11➕HURST, Alexander Hugh Magill appointedsecretary
- 2013-10-11➕HIRST, Alexander Hugh Magill appointeddirector
- 2013-10-11➕MILLEN, Patricia Elizabeth appointeddirector
Owner dependency
65/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
73/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 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.)
Group structure
Hurst Investments Ltd holds 25-50% — a significant corporate investor but not a controlling parent.
🏛️significant stake
Hurst Investments Ltd
Corporate parent · holds 25-50% shares
⬇
WHAT A HOOT DAY NURSERY LIMITED
This company · 08729870
Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Hugh Magill Hurst Individual · British · DOB 04/1951 · age 75 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/11/2023 |
Hurst Investments Ltd Corporate entity | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 31/08/2023 |
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
- Albion Investments (North East) Limitedceased 01/11/2023· 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting
- Mrs Patricia Elizabeth Millenceased 31/08/2023· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
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.
See pricing →Similar companies
Active · Healthcare & medical · NE postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3K MEDICAL SERVICES LTD→ 14935412 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 5 INAJAR LIMITED→ 16864276 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| A & G MARSHALL OPTOMETRISTS LIMITED→ 06607772 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| A HEALTHY AWARENESS CIC→ 11463393 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AARYAAN MEDICAL LIMITED→ 11913753 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ACORNS (ASHINGTON) LIMITED→ 15591919 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ACORNS (NORTH TYNESIDE)→ 08838624 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ADEAM PATHOLOGY LTD→ 13160793 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ADHD WELLBEING FOCUS LTD→ 16711532 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADINU LTD→ 08584877 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ADJUVA LIMITED→ 11607599 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ADONAI HEALTH CARE LIMITED→ 10426546 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2013-10-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC88910 — Child day-care activities
Registered office
Albion Activity Centre
Albion Way
Blyth
Northumberland
NE24 5BL
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-18
Last: 2025-09-04
Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)
BARNES, Nichola→
Activedirector · ~35y · appointed 2023-10-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BUCHAN, William→
Activedirector · ~68y · appointed 2013-10-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HURST, Hugh Magill→
Activedirector · ~75y · appointed 2013-10-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HURST, Alexander Hugh Magill→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2013-10-11 · resigned 2023-06-22
HIRST, Alexander Hugh Magill→
Resigneddirector · ~38y · appointed 2013-10-11 · resigned 2014-01-27
HURST, Alexander Hugh Magill→
Resigneddirector · ~38y · appointed 2018-04-25 · resigned 2023-06-22
MILLEN, Patricia Elizabeth→
Resigneddirector · ~59y · appointed 2013-10-11 · resigned 2023-08-31
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
3
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Barclays Barclays Security Trustee Limited | A registered charge | 1 property | 07/05/2019 | 31/01/2024 | |
| satisfied | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 07/02/2018 | 08/02/2024 | |
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | A registered charge | — | 22/01/2018 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (58 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-05
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-02-08
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-02-02
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-02-02
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-01-31
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-04
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2023-09-04
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-09-04
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-09-04
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-08-23
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-08-23