THE THREE LITTLE BAKERS LTD

🌳Matureactive
SC445894 · ltd · incorporated 2013-03-25
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 6.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 6.3y

85/100
ready

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 6.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · 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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
34 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
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
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

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

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-04-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  7. 2021-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-01-28
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2020-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-02-14
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  11. 2020-02-06
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Highland Opportunity (Investments) Limited
  12. 2019-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-03-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-04-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-03-30
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2013-03-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE THREE LITTLE BAKERS LTD
  18. 2013-03-25
    ➕
    MURPHY, Jane appointed
    director
  19. 2013-03-25
    ➕
    MURPHY, Patrick Terence appointed
    director

Owner dependency

79/100
High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

59/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Patrick Terence Murphy
Individual · British · DOB 10/1968 · age 58
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Jane Murphy
Individual · British · DOB 06/1968 · age 58
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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

6 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
Incorporated2013-03-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC10710 — Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes

Registered office

39-41 The Three Little Bakers Ltd
Harbour Road
Inverness
IV1 1UA
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-08
Last: 2026-03-25

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MURPHY, Jane→
director · ~58y · appointed 2013-03-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MURPHY, Patrick Terence→
director · ~58y · appointed 2013-03-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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
Highland Opportunity (Investments)
Highland Opportunity (Investments) Limited
A registered charge—06/02/2020—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (34 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-03-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-12
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2021-04-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-04-22
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-01-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-06-30