CE ENGINEERING LTD.

💤Zombieactive
03158174 · ltd · incorporated 1996-02-13
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
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01500
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 62030Computer facilities management activities
  • 95110Repair of computers and peripheral equipment
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 3 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
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
78 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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
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£175k£350k£525k£700k£875kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£876.5k
Current assets£150.0k
Net assets£874.9k
Average employees200

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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-04
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  3. 2024-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-04-29
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2023-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-02-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2016-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-03-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2000-07-01
    ELLSWORTH, Chris resigned
    director
  17. 2000-07-01
    WATERHOUSE, Ervine Robert resigned
    director
  18. 1997-11-24
    HALL, Tracey appointed
    secretary
  19. 1997-11-24
    HALL, Gary resigned
    secretary
  20. 1996-02-13
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CE ENGINEERING LTD.
  21. 1996-02-13
    HALL, Gary appointed
    director
  22. 1996-02-13
    HALL, Gary appointed
    secretary
  23. 1996-02-13
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1996-02-13
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1996-02-13
    ELLSWORTH, Chris appointed
    director
  26. 1996-02-13
    WATERHOUSE, Ervine Robert appointed
    director

Owner dependency

93/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 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

1 med ·
Name changed recently
medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2025-08-04: certificate-change-of-name-company

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Gary Hall
Individual · British · DOB 03/1962 · age 64
sig. influencesignificant influence · firm interest31/12/2016

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
Incorporated1996-02-13
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500

Registered office

Unit 15 Merlin Business Park
Manston
Kent
CT12 5HW
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-25
Last: 2026-02-11

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

HALL, Tracey
secretary · appointed 1997-11-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HALL, Gary
director · ~64y · appointed 1996-02-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HALL, Gary
secretary · appointed 1996-02-13 · resigned 1997-11-24
Resigned
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-02-13 · resigned 1996-02-13
Resigned
ELLSWORTH, Chris
director · ~66y · appointed 1996-02-13 · resigned 2000-07-01
Resigned
WATERHOUSE, Ervine Robert
director · ~67y · appointed 1996-02-13 · resigned 2000-07-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (78 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-23
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2025-08-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-29
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-29