BANBURY CROSS NURSERY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC396469 · ltd · incorporated 2011-03-28
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 3.2y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£192.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Pre-primary education
Sector: Education
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 3.2y

75/100
ready

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

  • · Charge age ~3.2 years — mid-life; refi window approaching.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
4 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
54 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
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 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £192,022

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£192k
↑ 30% YoY
Current Assets
£137k
↑ 13% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£38k£77k£115k£154k£192kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£547.1k£517.9k
Current assets£137.5k£121.3k
Net assets£192.0k£147.9k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-11-10
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  3. 2025-11-01
    ➖
    BENTON, Kellie Jane resigned
    director
  4. 2024-12-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-10-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2023-10-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2023-10-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2023-10-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2023-07-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2023-04-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2023-04-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2023-04-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2023-03-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  15. 2023-02-27
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  16. 2023-02-14
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Santander UK PLC
  17. 2022-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2021-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2021-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2019-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  21. 2011-03-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BANBURY CROSS NURSERY LIMITED
  22. 2011-03-28
    ➕
    DUNCAN, Carol Jean appointed
    director
  23. 2011-03-28
    ➕
    DUNCAN, Colin John appointed
    director
  24. 2011-03-28
    ➕
    MURRAY, Lisa Anne appointed
    director
  25. 2011-03-28
    ➕
    BENTON, Kellie Jane appointed
    director

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

73/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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

4 active beneficial owners · fragmented
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Kellie Jane Benton
Individual · Scottish · DOB 03/1990 · age 36
25–50%
—25-50% shares01/03/2017
Mr Colin John Duncan
Individual · British · DOB 12/1960 · age 66
25–50%
—25-50% shares01/03/2017
Mrs Lisa Anne Murray
Individual · Scottish · DOB 05/1985 · age 41
25–50%
—25-50% shares01/03/2017
Mrs Carol Jean Duncan
Individual · British · DOB 12/1960 · age 66
25–50%
—25-50% shares01/03/2017

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 · Education & training · AB postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
NORTH EAST OF SCOTLAND MUSIC SCHOOL LIMITED→
SC058254 · est 1975 · no financials extracted
————50y8383y
1ST CLASS GAS LIMITED→
SC270334 · est 2004
——£256.6k—21y8264y
ABERDEEN STEP BY STEP NURSERY LIMITED→
SC291171 · est 2005
——£120.1k—20y8263y
ESD SIMULATION TRAINING LIMITED→
SC199873 · est 1999
———30026y8265y
PETERHEAD & DISTRICT GROUP TRAINING LIMITED→
SC160231 · est 1995
——£743.8k—30y8260y
STEPPING STONES NURSERIES (PETERHEAD) LIMITED→
SC260841 · est 2003
——£89.5k—22y8266y
ABERDEEN STRAIGHT-WAY LIMITED→
SC219939 · est 2001
———20024y8172y
RIDER SKILL ACADEMY LTD→
SC822263 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
SINCLAIR SCHOOL OF HIGHLAND DANCING LIMITED→
SC500411 · est 2015 · no financials extracted
————11y——
SPORT EDU COACH SERVICES LTD→
SC449438 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
————12y——
STATION HOUSE MEDIA UNIT→
SC332413 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
————18y——
THE DEN EARLY YEARS LTD→
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————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
Incorporated2011-03-28
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85100 — Pre-primary education

Registered office

62 Hareburn Road
Blackdog, Bridge Of Don
Aberdeen
AB23 8AR

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-09
Last: 2026-03-26

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

DUNCAN, Carol Jean→
director · ~66y · appointed 2011-03-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUNCAN, Colin John→
director · ~66y · appointed 2011-03-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MURRAY, Lisa Anne→
director · ~41y · appointed 2011-03-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BENTON, Kellie Jane→
director · ~36y · appointed 2011-03-28 · resigned 2025-11-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Santander
Santander UK PLC
A registered charge—14/02/2023—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (54 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-17
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-11-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-10-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-10-03
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-10-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-10-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-07-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-11