A.F.I. LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
02521020 · ltd · incorporated 1990-07-11
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Investigation activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
108 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
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
90
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£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets—£0
Net assets—£0

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-11
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  4. 2023-10-10
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  5. 2023-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-01-19
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2021-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-12-01
    ➕
    SOWLER, Thomas Henry James Holland appointed
    director
  11. 2019-11-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-07-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2012-02-15
    ➖
    SOWLER, Thomas Richard Holland resigned
    secretary
  17. 2012-02-11
    ➖
    HOLLAND-SOWLER LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  18. 2012-02-10
    ➕
    SOWLER, Marion Jane Broome appointed
    director
  19. 2007-02-19
    ➖
    SOWLER, Marion Jane Broome resigned
    secretary
  20. 2007-02-19
    ➕
    SOWLER, Thomas Richard Holland appointed
    secretary
  21. 1995-08-19
    ➖
    FLEMING, Richard James Peter resigned
    director
  22. 1995-08-19
    ➕
    HOLLAND-SOWLER LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director
  23. 1990-07-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A.F.I. LIMITED

Owner dependency

81/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

89/100
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 77 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 14 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 36 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

clean
No 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Thomas Richard Holland Sowler
Individual · British · DOB 04/1943 · age 83
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated1990-07-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC80300 — Investigation activities

Registered office

Unthank Hall
Haltwhistle
Northumberland
NE49 0HX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-06
Last: 2025-07-23

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

SOWLER, Marion Jane Broome→
director · ~77y · appointed 2012-02-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SOWLER, Thomas Henry James Holland→
director · ~44y · appointed 2020-12-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SOWLER, Marion Jane Broome→
secretary · resigned 2007-02-19
Resigned
SOWLER, Thomas Richard Holland→
secretary · appointed 2007-02-19 · resigned 2012-02-15
Resigned
FLEMING, Richard James Peter→
director · ~76y · resigned 1995-08-19
Resigned
HOLLAND-SOWLER LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 1995-08-19 · resigned 2012-02-11
Resigned

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

Recent filings (108 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-15
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-10-11
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-10-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-09
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-01-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-26