A.P. DIESELS LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
01402010 · ltd · incorporated 1978-11-27
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 37.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£309.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 4 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
4 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 37.9y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 37.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 6 with DOB)
87
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
112 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
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £309,029
Net assets shrinking
Down £22,261 YoY
Cash YoY
+58%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£184k
↑ 58% YoY
Net Worth
£309k
↓ 6.7% YoY
Current Assets
£731k
↑ 66% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £320.6k | £357.3k |
| Current assets | £730.6k | £439.1k |
| Cash | £184.4k | £116.5k |
| Debtors | £546.2k | £322.6k |
| Net assets | £309.0k | £331.3k |
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 (26 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-09-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-02-22📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-02-16📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-01-28➖SMITH, Lewis resigneddirector
- 2015-01-28📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2014-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2009-11-11➕SMITH, Lewis appointeddirector
- 2001-11-02🔒Charge registered #4Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2001-03-01🔒Charge registered #3Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2000-01-25➖SMITH, Betty resigneddirector
- 1998-09-14➖SMITH, Peter Urban resigneddirector
- 1994-02-11🔒Charge registered #2Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 1992-12-31➖MORTENSEN, Rhoda resigneddirector
- 1992-11-01➕SMITH, Vaughan appointedsecretary
- 1988-07-25🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Alex Lawrie Receivables Financing Limited
- 1978-11-27🏢Company incorporatedAs A.P. DIESELS LIMITED
Owner dependency
81/100
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.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
66/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 48 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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
1 active beneficial owner| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Vaughan Smith Individual · British · DOB 07/1960 · age 66 | — | — | sig. influencesignificant influence | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
🔒Co-director network graph
Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
See pricing →Similar companies
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
8 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
Incorporated1978-11-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Registered office
25a Victoria Street
Englefield Green
Egham
Surrey
TW20 0QY
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-21
Last: 2025-07-07
Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)
Active
Active
Active
MORTENSEN, Rhoda→
Resigneddirector · ~108y · resigned 1992-12-31
SMITH, Betty→
Resigneddirector · ~99y · resigned 2000-01-25
SMITH, Lewis→
Resigneddirector · ~34y · appointed 2009-11-11 · resigned 2015-01-28
SMITH, Peter Urban→
Resigneddirector · ~96y · resigned 1998-09-14
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
4
Total charges
4
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Legal mortgage | 1 property | 02/11/2001 | — | |
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Legal mortgage | 1 property | 01/03/2001 | — | |
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Mortgage debenture | 1 property | 11/02/1994 | — | |
| outstanding | Alex Lawrie Receivables Financing Alex Lawrie Receivables Financing Limited | First fixed charge | 1 property | 25/07/1988 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (112 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-11-28