ADM AUTOMATION LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
01446781 · ltd · incorporated 1979-09-05
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 28990
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 44.4y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 44.4 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.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (1 active, 6 linked, 4 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
102 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees12001600

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
1
filing
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-24
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  2. 2025-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-08-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-07-29
    📄
    legacy
    miscellaneous · ANNOTATION
  6. 2024-04-03
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  7. 2024-04-02
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  8. 2023-09-28
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  9. 2022-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-04-03
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  12. 2021-04-02
    SHIEL, Alexander Thomas Michael resigned
    secretary
  13. 2020-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-10-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 1996-04-15
    MOORE, Peter Robin resigned
    secretary
  18. 1996-04-15
    SHIEL, Alexander Thomas Michael appointed
    secretary
  19. 1996-04-15
    MOORE, Peter Robin resigned
    director
  20. 1995-04-03
    NEWRICK, John Keith resigned
    director
  21. 1994-08-11
    BELL, John Edward resigned
    director
  22. 1982-01-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Barclays Bank LTD
  23. 1979-09-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ADM AUTOMATION LIMITED

Owner dependency

90/100
Critical — business is the founder

The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
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 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 47 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.)

Group structure

The Automation Group Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
The Automation Group Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
ADM AUTOMATION LIMITED
This company · 01446781

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
The Automation Group Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Christopher Smithceased 24/03/2026· 75-100% shares

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

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
Incorporated1979-09-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC28990 — SIC 28990

Registered office

Nest Road
Felling Industrial Estate
Gateshead
NE10 0ES

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-24
Last: 2026-01-10

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

SMITH, Christopher
director · ~73y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MOORE, Peter Robin
secretary · resigned 1996-04-15
Resigned
SHIEL, Alexander Thomas Michael
secretary · appointed 1996-04-15 · resigned 2021-04-02
Resigned
BELL, John Edward
director · ~87y · resigned 1994-08-11
Resigned
MOORE, Peter Robin
director · ~83y · resigned 1996-04-15
Resigned
NEWRICK, John Keith
director · ~85y · resigned 1995-04-03
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank LTD
Debenture1 property12/01/1982
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (102 total)

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-03-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2025-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2024-09-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2024-08-15
legacy
miscellaneous · ANNOTATION
2024-07-29
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2024-04-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-02
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-04-02
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2023-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2022-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2021-10-28