A.E. RUSSELL (INSURANCES) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
00685922 · ltd · incorporated 1961-03-09
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
year to Oct 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-life insurance
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
105 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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£0Oct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31
Average employees1000

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
4
filings
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 address
  • 1 officers
Last 180 days
4
filings
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 address
  • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-12
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2026-04-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2026-04-12
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  4. 2025-10-06
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2025-10-06
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  6. 2025-03-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-05-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2024-01-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2023-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-02-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-04-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-03-04
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-made-up-date
    accounts · AAMD
  13. 2020-01-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2019-12-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-12-15
    ASTFALCK, Michael Charles appointed
    secretary
  18. 2016-11-30
    ASTFALCK, Peter Charles resigned
    secretary
  19. 2016-02-09
    ASTFALCK, Peter Charles resigned
    director
  20. 1998-11-01
    ASTFALCK, Peter Charles appointed
    secretary
  21. 1998-11-01
    ASTFALCK, Peter Charles appointed
    director
  22. 1998-10-31
    CATTERALL, Freda resigned
    secretary
  23. 1998-10-31
    CATTERALL, Freda resigned
    director
  24. 1998-10-31
    CATTERALL, Keith resigned
    director
  25. 1961-03-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A.E. RUSSELL (INSURANCES) LIMITED

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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
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.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 65 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Michael Charles Astfalck
Individual · British · DOB 10/1968 · age 58
75100%
75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated1961-03-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC65120 — Non-life insurance

Registered office

The Halo Centre
Progress Way
Coventry
West Midlands
CV3 2NT
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-02
Last: 2026-03-19

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

ASTFALCK, Michael Charles
secretary · appointed 2016-12-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASTFALCK, Michael Charles
director · ~58y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASTFALCK, Peter Charles
secretary · appointed 1998-11-01 · resigned 2016-11-30
Resigned
CATTERALL, Freda
secretary · resigned 1998-10-31
Resigned
ASTFALCK, Peter Charles
director · ~91y · appointed 1998-11-01 · resigned 2016-02-09
Resigned
CATTERALL, Freda
director · ~88y · resigned 1998-10-31
Resigned
CATTERALL, Keith
director · ~88y · resigned 1998-10-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (105 total)

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-04-12
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2026-04-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-30
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-06
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-10-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-01-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-02-08