A BURSTOW PLANT HIRE LTD

💤Zombieactive
09365250 · ltd · incorporated 2014-12-23
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£223.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Renting and leasing of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
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
43 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £223,878
Net assets shrinking
Down £114,510 YoY
Cash YoY
+57%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£47k
↑ 57% YoY
Net Worth
£224k
↓ 34% YoY
Current Assets
£136k
↓ 39% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£68k£135k£203k£271k£338kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£393.3k£476.1k
Current assets£135.5k£220.6k
Cash£47.5k£30.3k
Debtors£88.0k£190.3k
Net assets£223.9k£338.4k

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
5
filings
  • 2 persons-with-significant-control
  • 2 officers
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-08
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2026-01-08
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2026-01-08
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  4. 2026-01-08
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2025-08-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2025-08-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2025-08-26
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2025-08-26
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2025-08-26
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2025-08-26
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2025-08-26
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  12. 2025-08-26
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2025-06-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2024-12-23
    📄
    second-filing-notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · RP04PSC01
  15. 2024-07-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2023-09-18
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  17. 2023-09-14
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  18. 2023-09-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  19. 2023-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2022-10-17
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AAMD
  21. 2022-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  22. 2021-03-23
    BURSTOW, Cara appointed
    secretary
  23. 2014-12-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A BURSTOW PLANT HIRE LTD
  24. 2014-12-23
    BURSTOW, Ashley Ian appointed
    director

Owner dependency

95/100
Critical — business is the founder

The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BURSTOW" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

50/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

clean
No 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Cara Burstow
Individual · British · DOB 10/1989 · age 37
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting05/04/2023
Mr Ashley Ian Burstow
Individual · British · DOB 11/1985 · age 41
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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.

See pricing →

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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
Incorporated2014-12-23
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC77320 — Renting and leasing of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment

Registered office

Suite 8 Weeth Lane
Camborne
Cornwall
TR14 7DB
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-15
Last: 2025-12-01

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

BURSTOW, Cara
secretary · appointed 2021-03-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BURSTOW, Ashley Ian
director · ~41y · appointed 2014-12-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Recent filings (43 total)

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-01-08
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-01-08
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2026-01-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-01-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-01
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-08-27
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-08-27
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-08-26
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-08-26
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-08-26
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-08-26
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-08-26
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-16
second-filing-notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · RP04PSC01
2024-12-23