A.HEDLEY (MOTOR ENGINEERS) LIMITED
Opportunity 72/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -65% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 37.0y
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 37.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredKey financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsHover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £50.4k | £488.9k |
| Current assets | £104.9k | £230.5k |
| Cash | £62.9k | £180.0k |
| Debtors | £36.2k | £47.0k |
| Net assets | £46.5k | £485.0k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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
- • 3 officers
- • 2 address
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
- • 3 officers
- • 2 address
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-09📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2026-04-09📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2026-04-08📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2026-04-08📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2026-04-08📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2026-04-08📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC02
- 2026-04-08📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2026-04-01➕ASHWORTH, Ricky Nickolas appointeddirector
- 2026-04-01➖SMITH, Ian Christopher resignedsecretary
- 2026-04-01➖SMITH, Ian Christopher resigneddirector
- 2026-03-09📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2026-03-09🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2026-03-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-11-13📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2025-06-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-23📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2013-08-05➖HEDLEY, Dorothy Jean resignedsecretary
- 2013-08-05➕SMITH, Ian Christopher appointedsecretary
- 2013-08-05➖HEDLEY, Alan resigneddirector
- 2013-08-05➖HEDLEY, Dorothy Jean resigneddirector
- 2010-12-15➕SMITH, Ian Christopher appointeddirector
- 1989-06-07🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1975-06-11🏢Company incorporatedAs A.HEDLEY (MOTOR ENGINEERS) LIMITED
Owner dependency
Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
Red flags
1 med · 1 lowMultiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.
Evidence: SMITH, Ian Christopher resigned 2026-04-01; SMITH, Ian Christopher resigned 2026-04-01
Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.
Group structure
Longford Alpha Bidco 1 Ltd is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.
Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).
Shareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Longford Alpha Bidco 1 Ltd Corporate entity | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 01/04/2026 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Ian Christopher Smithceased 01/04/2026· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
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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 →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
Registered office
Filing status
Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 07/06/1989 | 09/03/2026 |