PAUL CONNAN LIMITED

📉Decliningactive
NI043593 · ltd · incorporated 2002-07-02
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
Opportunity decay
drifting distress · 6-months
Drifting toward distress — expect more negotiability in 3–6 months, but also more friction.
  • · Lifecycle stage drifting downward
  • · Currently "declining"
🔒Estimated value
—
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Turnover
£24.77M
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Unlicenced restaurants and cafes
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Conservative operator with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (78/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 7.5y

70/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 7.5 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, 1 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
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
68 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
82/100Exceptional
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
80
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 · FRS 102
Profitable
Profit before tax £314,500
Turnover YoY
-3%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Turnover£24.77M£25.63M
Gross profit£16.30M£16.41M
Operating profit£254.6k£899.4k
Profit before tax£314.5k£898.3k
Average employees6300064500

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

4 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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-medium
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-02
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2024-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-medium
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-09-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-05-27
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  7. 2022-05-26
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  8. 2022-05-26
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  9. 2021-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-02-22
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  11. 2021-02-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Hsbc UK Bank PLC
  12. 2020-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-02-11
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  14. 2020-02-11
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  15. 2019-07-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-12-13
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  17. 2018-12-07
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Metro Bank PLC
  18. 2018-08-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2017-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2010-09-03
    ➕
    CONNAN, Angela Mariane appointed
    director
  21. 2002-07-08
    ➕
    CONNAN, Paul Andrew appointed
    director
  22. 2002-07-08
    ➖
    PALMER, Robert Desmond resigned
    director
  23. 2002-07-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As PAUL CONNAN LIMITED
  24. 2002-07-02
    ➕
    CONNAN, Angela Mariane appointed
    secretary
  25. 2002-07-02
    ➕
    PALMER, Robert Desmond appointed
    director

Owner dependency

100/100
Critical — business is the founder

The 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 "CONNAN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Paul Andrew Connan
Individual · British · DOB 07/1959 · age 67
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control06/04/2016

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

8 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
Incorporated2002-07-02
Jurisdictionnorthern-ireland
Primary SIC56102 — Unlicenced restaurants and cafes

Registered office

2-4 Donegall Place
28-30 Castle Place
Belfast
BT1 5BA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-16
Last: 2025-07-02

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

CONNAN, Angela Mariane→
secretary · appointed 2002-07-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CONNAN, Angela Mariane→
director · ~59y · appointed 2010-09-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CONNAN, Paul Andrew→
director · ~67y · appointed 2002-07-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PALMER, Robert Desmond→
director · ~85y · appointed 2002-07-02 · resigned 2002-07-08
Resigned

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
TypeProperties
outstanding
HSBC
Hsbc UK Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property18/02/2021—
satisfied
Metro Bank
Metro Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property07/12/201811/02/2020
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (68 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-medium
accounts · AA
2025-09-15
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-07-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-medium
accounts · AA
2024-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-05
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2022-05-27
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2022-05-26
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2022-05-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-06
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2021-02-22