J & R BELL LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
09825256 · ltd · incorporated 2015-10-15
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 5.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£406.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01410
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 01420SIC 01420
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 78). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 5.3y
70/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 5.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
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, 2 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
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
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 · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £406,948
Cash YoY
+12%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£23k
↑ 12% YoY
Net Worth
£407k
↑ 21% YoY
Current Assets
£559k
↓ 2.3% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £451.9k | £392.0k |
| Current assets | £559.3k | £572.5k |
| Cash | £23.2k | £20.7k |
| Debtors | £283.7k | £251.1k |
| Net assets | £406.9k | £337.6k |
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 (21 events)Click to expand
- 2026-01-09📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2026-01-09🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2025-09-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-15📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2024-10-04🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Oxbury Bank PLC
- 2024-03-20📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2023-08-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-23📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2021-03-17🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC (Trading as Both Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank) (Company Number SC001111)
- 2020-12-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-07-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-10-26📍move-registers-to-sail-company-with-new-addressaddress · AD03
- 2016-10-26📍change-sail-address-company-with-new-addressaddress · AD02
- 2015-10-15🏢Company incorporatedAs J & R BELL LIMITED
- 2015-10-15➕BELL, John appointeddirector
- 2015-10-15➕BELL, Robert appointeddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BELL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.
- +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
71/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- 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
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr John Bell Individual · British · DOB 03/1948 · age 78 | 50–75% | 50–75% | 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Robert Bell Individual · British · DOB 05/1976 · age 50 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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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
Incorporated2015-10-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01410 — SIC 01410
Registered office
Ullard Hall Farm
Toft
Knutsford
Cheshire
WA16 9PL
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-14
Last: 2025-09-30
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
Active
BELL, Robert→
Activedirector · ~50y · appointed 2015-10-15
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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Oxbury Bank Oxbury Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 04/10/2024 | — | |
| satisfied | Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank PLC (Trading as Both Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank) (Company Number SC001111) | A registered charge | — | 17/03/2021 | 09/01/2026 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (29 total)
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2026-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-12
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2024-10-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-14
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2024-03-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-09
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2021-03-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-22