ARTISAN BAKES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
09420188 · ltd · incorporated 2015-02-03
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
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jan 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other food services
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (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 (58/100).

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
29 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-30
Average employees1700

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
4
filings
  • • 2 officers
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-01
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  2. 2026-04-01
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2026-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-10-30
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  5. 2025-03-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2025-02-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-11-21
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  8. 2023-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-04-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-11-28
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2018-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-02-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARTISAN BAKES LIMITED
  17. 2015-02-03
    ➕
    HARDWICK, David James appointed
    director
  18. 2015-02-03
    ➕
    HARDWICK, Elaine Mary appointed
    director

Owner dependency

71/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material 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.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

41/100
Moderate signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • 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
Mr David James Hardwick
Individual · British · DOB 01/1976 · age 50
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting03/02/2017
Mrs Elaine Mary Hardwick
Individual · British · DOB 04/1978 · age 48
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting03/02/2017

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 →

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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
Incorporated2015-02-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56290 — Other food services

Registered office

Unit 1 Flanshaw Way Industrial Estate
8 Flanshaw Way
Wakefield
WF2 9LP
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-30
Last made up to: 2025-01-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-05
Last: 2026-01-22

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

HARDWICK, David James→
director · ~50y · appointed 2015-02-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARDWICK, Elaine Mary→
director · ~48y · appointed 2015-02-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (29 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-01
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-01
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-28
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-10-30
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-22
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-11-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-09