A.R. BALL ENGINEERING LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
01106850 · ltd · incorporated 1973-04-06
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
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jan 2025
Net worth
£163.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Machining
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
12 officers (2 active, 12 linked, 9 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
116 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £163,780

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£164k
↑ 9.2% YoY
Current Assets
£152k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£33k£66k£98k£131k£164kJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£178.0k£179.7k
Current assets£151.8k£151.9k
Net assets£163.8k£150.0k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (37 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-29
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  3. 2024-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-08-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2021-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-09-01
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  10. 2020-02-06
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2020-02-06
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2020-02-03
    ➕
    ARMITAGE, Lee James appointed
    director
  13. 2020-02-03
    ➕
    WILLIAMS, Gerald appointed
    director
  14. 2020-02-03
    ➖
    COOPER, Janice Edith resigned
    secretary
  15. 2020-02-03
    ➖
    COOPER, Janice Edith resigned
    director
  16. 2020-02-03
    ➖
    COOPER, Paul Frederick resigned
    director
  17. 2020-02-03
    ➖
    NEWMAN, Samantha Janice resigned
    director
  18. 2020-02-03
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  19. 2020-02-03
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  20. 2020-02-03
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  21. 2020-02-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  22. 2020-02-03
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  23. 2020-02-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  24. 2020-02-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  25. 2013-09-12
    ➕
    NEWMAN, Samantha Janice appointed
    director
  26. 2006-07-01
    ➖
    BALL, Lesley Ann resigned
    secretary
  27. 2006-07-01
    ➕
    COOPER, Janice Edith appointed
    secretary
  28. 2006-07-01
    ➖
    BALL, John Arthur William resigned
    director
  29. 2006-07-01
    ➖
    BALL, Lesley Ann resigned
    director
  30. 2006-07-01
    ➕
    COOPER, Janice Edith appointed
    director
  31. 2006-07-01
    ➕
    COOPER, Paul Frederick appointed
    director
  32. 1998-10-01
    ➕
    BALL, Lesley Ann appointed
    secretary
  33. 1998-10-01
    ➖
    WARE, Phyllis resigned
    secretary
  34. 1998-10-01
    ➖
    BALL, Ethel Louise resigned
    director
  35. 1998-10-01
    ➕
    BALL, Lesley Ann appointed
    director
  36. 1996-01-17
    ➖
    BALL, Arthur Richard James resigned
    director
  37. 1973-04-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A.R. BALL ENGINEERING LIMITED

Owner dependency

73/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 53 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Gerald Williams
Individual · British · DOB 11/1954 · age 72
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting03/02/2020
Mr Lee James Armitage
Individual · British · DOB 09/1987 · age 39
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting01/02/2020
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Paul Frederick Cooperceased 03/02/2020· 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control

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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1973-04-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25620 — Machining

Registered office

Unit 1b A R Ball Engineering, Unit 1b
Rink Road Ind Est, Rink Road
Ryde
Isle Of Wight
PO33 2LT
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-17
Last: 2026-02-03

Officers (2 active · 10 resigned)

ARMITAGE, Lee James→
director · ~39y · appointed 2020-02-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WILLIAMS, Gerald→
director · ~72y · appointed 2020-02-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BALL, Lesley Ann→
secretary · appointed 1998-10-01 · resigned 2006-07-01
Resigned
COOPER, Janice Edith→
secretary · appointed 2006-07-01 · resigned 2020-02-03
Resigned
WARE, Phyllis→
secretary · resigned 1998-10-01
Resigned
BALL, Arthur Richard James→
director · ~108y · resigned 1996-01-17
Resigned
BALL, Ethel Louise→
director · ~106y · resigned 1998-10-01
Resigned
BALL, John Arthur William→
director · ~85y · resigned 2006-07-01
Resigned
BALL, Lesley Ann→
director · ~68y · appointed 1998-10-01 · resigned 2006-07-01
Resigned
COOPER, Janice Edith→
director · ~78y · appointed 2006-07-01 · resigned 2020-02-03
Resigned
COOPER, Paul Frederick→
director · ~78y · appointed 2006-07-01 · resigned 2020-02-03
Resigned
NEWMAN, Samantha Janice→
director · ~57y · appointed 2013-09-12 · resigned 2020-02-03
Resigned

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

Recent filings (116 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-06
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-08-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-01
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2020-09-01