ONCE A TREE LIMITED
⚰️Wound downdissolved
02168302 · ltd · incorporated 1987-09-23
Investment thesis
Company dissolved — not a live target.
Why interesting: Historical record only; useful for precedent research.
Why risky: Not transactable.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 37.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
64/100
Worth a look
What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed unclear — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 64/100 (worth a look), bankability 70/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Company dissolved. Company has been dissolved — it no longer legally exists. Any diligence here is historical only. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 37.0y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 37.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
Data confidence
Overall: low (51/100)Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.
Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (4 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
9 connected companies via shared directors
72
Filing history
67 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
64/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.
Business quality
30
Concerning — overdue filings or status flags present.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
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 (31 events)Click to expand
- 2013-09-03📄gazette-dissolved-voluntarygazette · GAZ2(A)
- 2013-09-03🏁Company dissolved
- 2013-05-21📄gazette-notice-voluntarygazette · GAZ1(A)
- 2013-05-08📄dissolution-application-strike-off-companydissolution · DS01
- 2013-01-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2012-06-12📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2011-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2011-05-31📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2011-02-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2010-06-09📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2010-02-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2009-06-17📄legacyannual-return · 363a
- 2009-02-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2008-06-17📄legacyannual-return · 363a
- 2008-05-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2007-08-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-fullaccounts · AA
- 2007-06-06📄legacyannual-return · 363a
- 2006-06-20📄legacyannual-return · 363s
- 2006-06-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-fullaccounts · AA
- 2005-07-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-fullaccounts · AA
- 2005-06-16📄legacyannual-return · 363s
- 2004-06-24📄legacymortgage · 403a
- 2004-06-24🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2004-06-07📄legacyannual-return · 363s
- 2004-06-07📄legacyannual-return · 363(287)
- 2004-04-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-fullaccounts · AA
- 2003-12-30📄legacyofficers · 288a
- 2003-12-15➕GOLDSTONE, Richard John appointeddirector
- 2003-06-02🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1989-05-02🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 1987-09-23🏢Company incorporatedAs ONCE A TREE LIMITED
Owner dependency
80/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 87 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 39 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
90/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 87 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 39 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 high ·Company dissolved
highCompany has been dissolved — it no longer legally exists. Any diligence here is historical only.
Evidence: Dissolved on 2013-09-03
🔒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
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1 POUND SHOP LIMITED→ 16134575 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 11ELEVEN UK ENTERPRISES LTD→ 12249250 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| 13TH STREET LTD→ 11753960 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| 1405 LTD→ 16049608 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 1D34 LTD→ 10999524 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| 2A1 LTD→ 16325949 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 37 & 39 ORCHARD STREET (WSM) MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED→ 06452626 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| 3DS PRIVATE LIMITED→ 16122778 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 501 DRIVING SCHOOL LIMITED→ 12309451 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| 7 VALLEY LTD→ 12031300 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| 779 ZAIN STORES LIMITED→ 16151521 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 8BIT PLANET LTD→ 12310334 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
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
Statusdissolved
Typeltd
Incorporated1987-09-23
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47789 — Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)
Registered office
Brockley Combe
Backwell
Bristol
BS48 3DF
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: —
Last made up to: 2012-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: —
Last: —
Officers (0 active · 0 resigned)
Active
Active
GOLDSTONE, Richard John→
Activedirector · ~80y · appointed 2003-12-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
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
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Guarantee & debenture | 1 property | 02/06/2003 | — | |
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 02/05/1989 | 24/06/2004 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (67 total)
gazette-dissolved-voluntary
gazette · GAZ2(A)
2013-09-03
gazette-notice-voluntary
gazette · GAZ1(A)
2013-05-21
dissolution-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS01
2013-05-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2013-01-09
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-06-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2011-12-20
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2011-05-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2011-02-15
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2010-06-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2010-02-25
legacy
annual-return · 363a
2009-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2009-02-13
legacy
annual-return · 363a
2008-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2008-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2007-08-01