A1 INSTRUMENTATION SERVICES LTD

💤Zombieactive
03326694 · ltd · incorporated 1997-03-03
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£40.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other engineering activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (76/100)

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
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
79 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £40,825

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£41k
↑ 5.8% YoY
Current Assets
£24k
↓ 31% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£8k£16k£24k£33k£41kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£40.8k£38.6k
Current assets£23.7k£34.5k
Net assets£40.8k£38.6k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-03-02
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  7. 2021-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-10-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-12-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-03-16
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2015-11-09
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2015-11-06
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  15. 2015-11-06
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2015-10-26
    ➕
    MORAN, Rinawati appointed
    secretary
  17. 2015-10-26
    ➕
    MORAN, Stephen Michael appointed
    director
  18. 2015-10-26
    ➖
    MORAN, Stephen Michael resigned
    secretary
  19. 2015-10-26
    ➖
    MORAN, Michael Anthony resigned
    director
  20. 1999-08-24
    ➕
    MORAN, Michael Anthony appointed
    director
  21. 1999-08-24
    ➖
    MORAN, Victoria Jane resigned
    director
  22. 1997-03-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A1 INSTRUMENTATION SERVICES LTD
  23. 1997-03-03
    ➕
    MORAN, Stephen Michael appointed
    secretary
  24. 1997-03-03
    ➕
    PARAMOUNT COMPANY SEARCHES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1997-03-03
    ➖
    PARAMOUNT COMPANY SEARCHES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 1997-03-03
    ➕
    MORAN, Victoria Jane appointed
    director
  27. 1997-03-03
    ➕
    PARAMOUNT PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  28. 1997-03-03
    ➖
    PARAMOUNT PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100
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.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stephen Michael Moran
Individual · British · DOB 12/1962 · age 64
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control06/04/2016
Mrs Rinawati Moran
Individual · British · DOB 03/1980 · age 46
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Incorporated1997-03-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities

Registered office

Hart Farm Front Street
Hart Village
Hartlepool
Durham
TS27 3AW
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-14
Last: 2026-02-28

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

MORAN, Rinawati→
secretary · appointed 2015-10-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MORAN, Stephen Michael→
director · ~64y · appointed 2015-10-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MORAN, Stephen Michael→
secretary · appointed 1997-03-03 · resigned 2015-10-26
Resigned
PARAMOUNT COMPANY SEARCHES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-03-03 · resigned 1997-03-03
Resigned
MORAN, Michael Anthony→
director · ~91y · appointed 1999-08-24 · resigned 2015-10-26
Resigned
MORAN, Victoria Jane→
director · ~55y · appointed 1997-03-03 · resigned 1999-08-24
Resigned
PARAMOUNT PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1997-03-03 · resigned 1997-03-03
Resigned

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

Recent filings (79 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-02
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2022-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-23