JOHANNA BASFORD LTD
Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsHover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 1 | 100 |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
3 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
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-27📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC02
- 2025-11-27📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-09-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-25📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-03-25📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-29📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2021-06-16➖WATT, James Bruce resigneddirector
- 2020-08-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-02-22📄legacymiscellaneous · RP04CS01
- 2018-09-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-11📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2018-06-11📄capital-alter-shares-subdivisioncapital · SH02
- 2018-06-11📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2017-06-15➖STEER, Elaine resigneddirector
- 2017-02-01➕STEER, Elaine appointeddirector
- 2017-02-01➕WATT, James Bruce appointeddirector
- 2009-11-27🏢Company incorporatedAs JOHANNA BASFORD LTD
- 2009-11-27➕BASFORD, Johanna Margaret appointeddirector
Owner dependency
The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BASFORD" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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
cleanGroup structure
Inky Lobster Limited holds 25-50% — a significant corporate investor but not a controlling parent.
Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Johanna Margaret Basford Individual · British · DOB 04/1983 · age 43 | 50–75% | 50–75% | board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
Inky Lobster Limited Corporate entity | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 31/10/2025 |
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.
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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 (1 active · 2 resigned)
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.