AEL LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
01404271 · ltd · incorporated 1978-12-07
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 46.2y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 46.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (71/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
91 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-09-30

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
2
filings
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-30
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  3. 2025-06-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-04-15
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  5. 2025-01-20
    ALTRINGHAM, Kathryn Helen appointed
    director
  6. 2025-01-20
    ALTRINGHAM, Kenneth resigned
    director
  7. 2024-11-20
    GUEST, David Thomas resigned
    director
  8. 2024-11-20
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2024-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2023-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-06-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-06-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-05-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-05-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2016-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  19. 1994-04-06
    NOBLE, Sarah Louise appointed
    secretary
  20. 1994-04-06
    PARKER, John Charles resigned
    secretary
  21. 1982-12-07
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
  22. 1980-03-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
  23. 1978-12-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AEL LIMITED

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Group structure

Aycliffe Engineering Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Aycliffe Engineering Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
AEL LIMITED
This company · 01404271

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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Aycliffe Engineering Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75-100% shares11/05/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated1978-12-07
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999

Registered office

Beaumont Way
Aycliffe Industrial Park
Newton Aycliffe
County Durham
DL5 6SN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-10
Last: 2026-04-26

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

NOBLE, Sarah Louise
secretary · appointed 1994-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ALTRINGHAM, Kathryn Helen
director · ~56y · appointed 2025-01-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PARKER, John Charles
secretary · resigned 1994-04-06
Resigned
ALTRINGHAM, Kenneth
director · ~84y · resigned 2025-01-20
Resigned
GUEST, David Thomas
director · ~90y · resigned 2024-11-20
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank PLC
Debenture1 property07/12/1982
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank PLC
Single debenture1 property17/03/1980
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (91 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-28
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-07-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-06-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-03
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-04-15
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-11-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-06-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-11