What a buyer sees
AETNA (UK) LIMITED
Installation of industrial machinery and equipment · Oakley · 02522111
46staff · FY2023
36years trading
—oldest owner on file
£1.4Mcash at bank
Your turnover is on public record
filed£16Mfor 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
Staff46
202145 → 462023
Cash at bank£1.4M
2021£263k → £1.4M2023
How you sit in your trade
slowest tenth typical fastest tenth youSales per employee£353,022in the top quarter
£58,419£229,755£589,619
Debtor daysdays70in the middle half
2759117
Creditor daysdays6
133576
Stock daysdays17in the bottom quarter
1045104
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 4
- The newest accounts on file are 32 months oldAnyone looking at the company today is reading a year that has already ended. Whatever has improved since is invisible.
- One director on the registerA buyer's first question about a company run by one person is what happens to it if that person stops. It is usually the first thing priced.
- Everyone on the board is over 60There is no one on the register a buyer can see taking the business on. That is a discount if it stays that way and a negotiating point if it changes.
- 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 3
- 36 years of trading on fileLongevity is the cheapest evidence there is that the business is not one contract.
- Sales per employee better than three quarters of your tradeYours is 353,022 against 229,755 for the middle of 59 comparable companies.
- Stock days better than three quarters of your tradeYours is 17 against 45 for the middle of 46 comparable companies.
What the register says
Owners
Nobody recorded with significant control.
Directors
- 60since 2006
| Year to | Turnover | Staff | Cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-12-31 | £16M | 46 | £1.4M |
| 2022-12-31 | £15M | 48 | £1.0M |
| 2021-12-31 | not filed | 45 | £263k |
A rough bracket, and why it is only that
0.4–0.9× sales£6.5M£15M
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.