A. & D. LOCK AND KEY CO. LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
01237267 · ltd · incorporated 1975-12-12
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 25720
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
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 (3 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
118 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 400 | 400 |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-06📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-11-06📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2025-05-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-26📍change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD02
- 2019-07-25📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2018-12-14📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2018-06-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-19📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2018-06-19📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2018-05-30📍move-registers-to-registered-office-company-with-new-addressaddress · AD04
- 2011-08-10➕UNDERWOOD, Ian Alan appointedsecretary
- 2011-05-28➖UNDERWOOD, Alan John resignedsecretary
- 2011-05-28➖UNDERWOOD, Alan John resigneddirector
- 2008-03-11➕RADFORD, Christopher appointeddirector
- 1999-04-06➕UNDERWOOD, Ian Alan appointeddirector
- 1999-04-06➖UNDERWOOD, Geoffrey William resigneddirector
- 1994-07-04➖MASSEY, Valerie resignedsecretary
- 1994-07-04➕UNDERWOOD, Alan John appointedsecretary
- 1975-12-12🏢Company incorporatedAs A. & D. LOCK AND KEY CO. LIMITED
Owner dependency
83/100
Critical — business is the founderThe business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 50 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Ian Alan Underwood Individual · British · DOB 12/1982 · age 44 | 50–75% | — | 50-75% shares | 20/06/2016 |
Mr Christopher Radford Individual · British · DOB 07/1967 · age 59 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 20/06/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Christopher Radfordceased 12/06/2019· 25-50% shares
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Manufacturing · B postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A & D PRINTING UK LIMITED→ 11144003 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| A.D. RECYCLING SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 04909242 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| ACHECH UK LTD→ 09944716 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| ACJ FURNITURE LTD→ 13059012 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ACM TECHNICS LIMITED→ 10573313 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ACME ENGINEERING PRODUCTS UK LIMITED→ 10414556 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ACME METAL SPINNING & BEDALE LIMITED→ 05602773 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| ACME SPINNING CO.(OLDBURY)LIMITED→ 00528788 · est 1954 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 72y | — | — |
| ACONIA CASTINGS LIMITED→ 01866515 · est 1984 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 41y | — | — |
| ACPS AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES LTD→ 14563386 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ACSYS LASERTECHNIK UK LIMITED→ 08174621 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| ACTAVO (UK) LIMITED→ 04013621 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1975-12-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25720 — SIC 25720
Registered office
6/7 Hockley Hill
Birmingham
B18 5AA
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-01
Last: 2025-11-17
Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)
UNDERWOOD, Ian Alan→
Activesecretary · appointed 2011-08-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
RADFORD, Christopher→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2008-03-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
UNDERWOOD, Ian Alan→
Activedirector · ~44y · appointed 1999-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
MASSEY, Valerie→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 1994-07-04
UNDERWOOD, Alan John→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1994-07-04 · resigned 2011-05-28
UNDERWOOD, Alan John→
Resigneddirector · ~91y · resigned 2011-05-28
UNDERWOOD, Geoffrey William→
Resigneddirector · ~79y · resigned 1999-04-06
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (118 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-11-06
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-10