NORTHERN LIFT TRUCKS (N.I.) LIMITED

📈Growthactive
NI017337 · ltd · incorporated 1984-03-15
Investment thesis
Growth-phase business — story-led; valuation sensitive to momentum.
Why interesting: Trading is scaling; acquirers paying for trajectory get disproportionate leverage.
Why risky: Price often leads fundamentals; dependency on founder often high.
Why now
Window closing · medium confidence
Getting harder to buy cheaply — 1 signals strengthening over the last 30 days.
  • · Hygiene score: 75 → 90
What changed my view
Last 30 days

Picture improved over the last 30 days — 1 positive signal vs 0 negative.

  • ↑Hygiene score: 75 → 90
Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46610
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 46690Wholesale of other machinery and equipment
  • 77320Renting and leasing of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment
  • 77390Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods n.e.c.
Investor take
Pursue
Conservative operator with a 76-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 77/100. Strong seller-intent signal (73/100, director aged 76). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 5 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (78/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

6 live charges · 5 lenders · oldest 38.9y

45/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 38.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 5 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Legal-friction score 33/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
  • · Profitable and stable/growing — lender coverage supportable.

Data confidence

Overall: high (83/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile
address, 4 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
6 charges (6/6 with lender, 6/6 with type)
90
Directors & officers
13 officers (5 active, 13 linked, 11 with DOB)
87
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
13 connected companies via shared directors
84
Filing history
156 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
85
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Profitable
Profit before tax £1,247,065

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Profit before tax£1.25M£895.5k
Average employees363200

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (54 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-17
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  2. 2025-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-07-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  4. 2025-07-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  5. 2025-06-05
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2025-06-05
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2025-06-05
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2025-06-02
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2025-06-02
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  10. 2025-06-02
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  11. 2025-06-01
    ➕
    GREEN, John appointed
    director
  12. 2025-06-01
    ➖
    GREEN, John resigned
    director
  13. 2025-06-01
    ➕
    MCLERNON, Roisin appointed
    director
  14. 2025-06-01
    ➖
    MCLERNON, Roisin resigned
    director
  15. 2025-06-01
    ➕
    SLOAN, Richard Wylie appointed
    director
  16. 2025-06-01
    ➖
    SLOAN, Richard Wylie resigned
    director
  17. 2024-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2023-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2023-07-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  20. 2023-07-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  21. 2022-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  22. 2021-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  23. 2021-05-17
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  24. 2021-05-17
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  25. 2021-03-15
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  26. 2021-03-13
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  27. 2021-03-13
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  28. 2019-11-25
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #6
  29. 2018-11-30
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  30. 2018-11-30
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #5
  31. 2018-08-15
    ➕
    MCLERNON, Roisin appointed
    secretary
  32. 2018-08-15
    ➕
    MAXWELL, Sophie Clare appointed
    director
  33. 2018-08-15
    ➕
    SMYTH, Matthew William appointed
    director
  34. 2018-08-15
    ➖
    BRADFORD, Brian James resigned
    secretary
  35. 2012-05-15
    ➖
    BRADFORD, Katrina resigned
    director
  36. 2012-05-15
    ➖
    SMYTH, Maria resigned
    director
  37. 2008-04-01
    ➕
    BRADFORD, Katrina appointed
    director
  38. 2008-04-01
    ➕
    SMYTH, Maria appointed
    director
  39. 2004-03-16
    ➖
    THORPE, Michael David S resigned
    director
  40. 2004-03-16
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Belfast
  41. 2004-03-16
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Governor & Co. Boi
  42. 2003-11-25
    ➖
    FORTIN, Elizabeth Marie resigned
    director
  43. 1999-10-01
    ➕
    FORTIN, Elizabeth Marie appointed
    director
  44. 1990-08-01
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #4
  45. 1990-03-09
    🔒
    Charge registered #6
    Lender: The Governor & Company of the Bank of Ireland
  46. 1990-03-09
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: The Governor & Company of the Bank of Ireland
  47. 1990-01-30
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  48. 1988-05-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: International Factors (N.I.) Limited
  49. 1987-09-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: First National Securities Limited
  50. 1984-03-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As NORTHERN LIFT TRUCKS (N.I.) LIMITED
Showing most recent 50 of 54 events

Owner dependency

73/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 42 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 76 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 76 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 42 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 42 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 med ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Group structure

Bs Lifts Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Bs Lifts Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
⬇
NORTHERN LIFT TRUCKS (N.I.) LIMITED
This company · NI017337

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Bs Lifts Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Paul Henry Smythceased 06/04/2016· significant influence
  • Mr Brian James Bradfordceased 06/04/2016· significant influence

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
Incorporated1984-03-15
Jurisdictionnorthern-ireland
Primary SIC46610 — SIC 46610

Registered office

2 Glenavy Road
Upper Ballinderry
Lisburn
Antrim
BT28 2EU
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-25
Last: 2025-12-11

Officers (5 active · 8 resigned)

MCLERNON, Roisin→
secretary · appointed 2018-08-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRADFORD, Brian James→
director · ~71y · appointed 1984-03-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MAXWELL, Sophie Clare→
director · ~38y · appointed 2018-08-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMYTH, Matthew William→
director · ~42y · appointed 2018-08-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMYTH, Paul Henry→
director · ~76y · appointed 1984-03-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRADFORD, Brian James→
secretary · appointed 1984-03-15 · resigned 2018-08-15
Resigned
BRADFORD, Katrina→
director · ~64y · appointed 2008-04-01 · resigned 2012-05-15
Resigned
FORTIN, Elizabeth Marie→
director · ~68y · appointed 1999-10-01 · resigned 2003-11-25
Resigned
GREEN, John→
director · ~53y · appointed 2025-06-01 · resigned 2025-06-01
Resigned
MCLERNON, Roisin→
director · ~53y · appointed 2025-06-01 · resigned 2025-06-01
Resigned
SLOAN, Richard Wylie→
director · ~39y · appointed 2025-06-01 · resigned 2025-06-01
Resigned
SMYTH, Maria→
director · ~74y · appointed 2008-04-01 · resigned 2012-05-15
Resigned
THORPE, Michael David S→
director · ~78y · appointed 1984-03-15 · resigned 2004-03-16
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

6
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:6 of 6 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Belfast / Governor & Co. Boi
Mortgage or charge1 property16/03/200417/05/2021
satisfied
Governor & Co. Boi
Mortgage or charge1 property16/03/200430/11/2018
satisfied
The Governor & Company of the Bank of Ireland
Specific charge on present and future book debts and other receivables1 property09/03/199025/11/2019
satisfied
The Governor & Company of the Bank of Ireland
Debenture1 property09/03/199030/11/2018
satisfied
International Factors (N.I.)
International Factors (N.I.) Limited
Debenture1 property18/05/198801/08/1990
satisfied
First National Securities
First National Securities Limited
Mortgage1 property04/09/198730/01/1990

Recent filings (156 total)

change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2025-07-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2025-07-22
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-06-05
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-06-05
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-06-05
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-06-02
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-06-02
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-06-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-12