A MERRY OPTICS LTD
🌳Matureactive
08838569 · ltd · incorporated 2014-01-09
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£67.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 47782
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 68). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -72% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 12.2y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 12.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.
Data confidence
Overall: high (81/100)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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
29 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £67,375
Net assets shrinking
Down £29,473 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 72% YoY
Cash YoY
-72%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£19k
↓ 72% YoY
Net Worth
£67k
↓ 30% YoY
Current Assets
£71k
↓ 37% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £67.4k | £96.8k |
| Current assets | £70.8k | £113.2k |
| Cash | £19.0k | £67.7k |
| Debtors | £18.1k | £12.8k |
| Net assets | £67.4k | £96.8k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 signals 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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-09📄accounts-amended-with-made-up-dateaccounts · AAMD
- 2021-10-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-12-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-01-15📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-01-22📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-11-11📄change-account-reference-date-company-current-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2014-06-24🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2014-05-01🔒Charge registered #2Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2014-03-13🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2014-01-09🏢Company incorporatedAs A MERRY OPTICS LTD
- 2014-01-09➕ABRAHAMS, David Philip appointeddirector
- 2014-01-09➕ABRAHAMS, Joy 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 68 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
- +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
69/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. 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 12 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
1 active beneficial owner| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr David Philip Abrahams Individual · British · DOB 06/1958 · age 68 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 09/01/2017 |
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
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3A & R PROPERTIES LTD→ 11735550 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| 50NINE HEALTH & WELLBEING GROUP LTD→ 11789622 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| A&K WILSON PICTURE FRAMERS LTD→ 04562700 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| AAROH FOODS LTD→ 09951454 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| AD PERFORMANCE LTD→ 15122773 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ADHAB LTD→ 16151781 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ADS MEDI CARE LTD→ 08905345 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| AFS67 LTD→ 16848345 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AFTA NADEEM LTD→ 15328658 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AFTERHOURSJEWELLERY LIMITED→ 15653041 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AGELESS LABS LIMITED→ 16528975 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AHS MONITORING LIMITED→ 08263675 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2014-01-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47782 — SIC 47782
Registered office
9 The Malting
St Albans
AL1 3HL
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-22
Last: 2026-01-08
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
ABRAHAMS, David Philip→
Activedirector · ~68y · appointed 2014-01-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ABRAHAMS, Joy→
Activedirector · ~68y · appointed 2014-01-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 01/05/2014 | 24/06/2014 | |
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 13/03/2014 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (29 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-12-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-12-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-13
accounts-amended-with-made-up-date
accounts · AAMD
2021-11-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-10-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-12-20