A & J DESIGN LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
09011554 · ltd · incorporated 2014-04-25
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
£-63.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. 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
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
25 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
75
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 declaredNegative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £63,867
Cash YoY
+31%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£26k
↑ 31% YoY
Net Worth
-£64k
↓ 116% YoY
Current Assets
£27k
↑ 24% 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 | £-63.9k | £-29.5k |
| Current assets | £26.8k | £21.6k |
| Cash | £25.6k | £19.5k |
| Debtors | £1.2k | £2.1k |
| Net assets | £-63.9k | £-29.5k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-04📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2022-01-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-01-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-01-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-01-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-11📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2016-01-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-04-28📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-04-25🏢Company incorporatedAs A & J DESIGN LIMITED
- 2014-04-25➕GARDNER, Karen Ann appointedsecretary
- 2014-04-25➕GARDNER, Andrew Louis appointeddirector
- 2014-04-25➕GARDNER, James Louis appointeddirector
- 2014-04-25📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
74/100
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 61 — approaching natural succession window.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
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 61. Early succession window.
- 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 Andrew Louis Gardner Individual · British · DOB 02/1965 · age 61 | 50–75% | — | 50-75% shares | 20/04/2017 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Construction · WR postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A G WALTON LIMITED→ 05835154 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| A H PLASTERING & RENDERING LTD→ 14162831 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| A J B PLASTERING LIMITED→ 04909218 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| A J COLDICOTT LIMITED→ 08527662 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| A.G.REDMAN&SON LTD→ 09068067 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ACCESS FLOORING SOLUTIONS 21 LTD→ 04036103 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| ACE FRAMING LTD→ 16425040 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ACIS ENERGY LIMITED→ 08585782 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ACM PAINTERS LIMITED→ 09020315 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ACORN ELECTRICS LIMITED→ 08410731 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| ACRS LIMITED→ 04347474 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| ACT ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR LTD→ 10577389 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2014-04-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43999 — Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.
Registered office
Britannia Court
5 Moor Street
Worcester
WR1 3DB
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-03
Last: 2026-03-20
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
GARDNER, Karen Ann→
Activesecretary · appointed 2014-04-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
GARDNER, Andrew Louis→
Activedirector · ~61y · appointed 2014-04-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
GARDNER, James Louis→
Activedirector · ~36y · appointed 2014-04-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (25 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-04
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-05-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-10