CANDY LINKS LTD
🌳Matureactive
10070503 · ltd · incorporated 2016-03-18
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£102.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Wholesale of sugar and chocolate and sugar confectionery
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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, 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
28 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Positive net assets
Net assets £102,209
Net assets shrinking
Down £9,363 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£102k
↓ 8.4% YoY
Current Assets
£93k
↓ 8.7% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £102.2k | £111.6k |
| Current assets | £92.8k | £101.7k |
| Net assets | £102.2k | £111.6k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-25📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-09-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-26📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-03-25📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-03-25📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-03-25📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-03-25📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-10-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-30📄capital-alter-shares-subdivisioncapital · SH02
- 2018-11-30📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2018-08-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-03-18🏢Company incorporatedAs CANDY LINKS LTD
- 2016-03-18➕BRANNEN, John appointeddirector
- 2016-03-18➕BRANNEN, Steven John 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 72 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
- +No director turnover: Company is 10 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 72 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 Steve John Brannen Individual · British · DOB 04/1979 · age 47 | 50–75% | 50–75% | 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mr John Brannen Individual · British · DOB 03/1954 · age 72 | 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.
🔒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
Active · Wholesale & distribution · YO postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AND DRINK CO. LTD→ 17037577 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AXEL 123 LIMITED→ 14863044 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BREAK FLUID BEVERAGES LTD→ 13900850 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| BRIKSELR LIMITED→ 02238722 · est 1988 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 38y | — | — |
| BUEC LTD→ 16696431 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BURTON ROOFING MERCHANTS LIMITED→ 01713728 · est 1983 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 43y | — | — |
| CAIL TRADE & INVEST LTD→ 11442145 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| CANAL TOYS DISTRIBUTION LIMITED→ 11132457 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| CANDYBOX CONFECTIONERY LIMITED→ 06033100 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| CAPITOL TRADING UK LIMITED→ 02843626 · est 1993 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 32y | — | — |
| CAPTIVATE DISPLAYS LTD→ 14878557 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| CAPZ LTD→ 16158286 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2016-03-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46360 — Wholesale of sugar and chocolate and sugar confectionery
Registered office
Heritage House Murton Way
Osbaldwick
York
North Yorkshire
YO19 5UW
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last: 2026-03-17
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
BRANNEN, John→
Activedirector · ~72y · appointed 2016-03-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BRANNEN, Steven John→
Activedirector · ~47y · appointed 2016-03-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (28 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-25
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-03-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-03-26
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-03-25