COTTON EYE SEW LTD
Opportunity 71/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -71% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. 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.
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredKey financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsHover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £11.4k | £20.4k |
| Current assets | £50.6k | £47.5k |
| Cash | £7.0k | £24.4k |
| Debtors | £40.9k | £20.1k |
| Net assets | £5.4k | £20.4k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Corporate timeline (8 events)Click to expand
- 2025-04-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-07-05📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-04-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-23🏢Company incorporatedAs COTTON EYE SEW LTD
- 2021-12-23➕SMITHSON, Claire Marie appointeddirector
- 2021-12-23➕SMITHSON, Colin appointeddirector
- 2021-12-23📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
- +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.
Succession & seller-readiness
Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
Red flags
cleanShareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Colin Smithson Individual · British · DOB 06/1978 · age 48 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 23/12/2021 |
Mrs Claire Marie Smithson Individual · British · DOB 11/1981 · age 45 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 23/12/2021 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
See pricing →Similar companies
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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 →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
Registered office
Filing status
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
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