What a buyer sees
THE STICKLEBACK FISH COMPANY LIMITED
Processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs · Hatfield · 05476544
61staff · FY2023
21years trading
49oldest owner on file
£52kcash at bank
Your turnover is on public record
filed£13Mfor the year to 2023
Unusual at this size, and it works in your favour: a buyer is reading your number rather than guessing at one.
What your filings show moving
Staff61
202143 → 612023
Cash at bank£52k
2021£1.1M → £52k2023
How you sit in your trade
slowest tenth typical fastest tenth youSales per employee£213,675in the middle half
£88,871£162,513£362,127
Debtor daysdays35in the bottom quarter
265687
Creditor daysdays52
143363
Stock daysdays12below almost all
1245115
Each spread is companies in the same trade and size that did publish a turnover. Creditor days are shown but not marked: neither end of that one is plainly good.
What a buyer would ask 3
- The newest accounts on file are 35 months oldAnyone looking at the company today is reading a year that has already ended. Whatever has improved since is invisible.
- A director resigned in the past yearA buyer will ask why, and will hear the answer from somewhere. Better from you.
- No website on file against the companyThe first thing anyone does with a company number is look for the business behind it. Finding nothing is its own answer.
What a buyer would like 4
- 21 years of trading on fileLongevity is the cheapest evidence there is that the business is not one contract.
- Headcount grew from 54 to 61Growth a buyer can verify without asking you for anything.
- Debtor days better than three quarters of your tradeYours is 35 against 56 for the middle of 2,030 comparable companies.
- Stock days better than three quarters of your tradeYours is 12 against 45 for the middle of 2,028 comparable companies.
What the register says
Owners
- 49since 2016
- 46since 2016
Directors
- since 2005
- 49since 2005
- 46since 2012
- 43since 2018
- since 2023
| Year to | Turnover | Staff | Cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-09-30 | £13M | 61 | £52k |
| 2022-09-30 | not filed | 54 | £1.3M |
| 2021-09-30 | not filed | 43 | £1.1M |
A rough bracket, and why it is only that
0.4–0.9× sales£5.2M£12M
The turnover range is fitted on UK companies that did file one. The multiple is a published sector average from Dutch mid-market deals, not from your own numbers and not from your own market. Treat this as the opening bracket of a conversation, not a valuation.