APLEN LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
03478444 · ltd · incorporated 1997-12-10
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 80). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: 1 insolvency-related filing on record. Filings relating to insolvency, liquidation, or administration exist in the company's history. Review before proceeding. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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, 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
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
77 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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review 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£0Sept 2024Sept 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-09-302024-09-30
Average employees200200

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

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 (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-11-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-01
    📄
    capital-alter-shares-subdivision
    capital · SH02
  7. 2021-03-01
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  8. 2020-12-20
    📄
    legacy
    capital · SH20
  9. 2020-12-20
    📄
    capital-statement-capital-company-with-date-currency-figure
    capital · SH19
  10. 2020-12-20
    ⚠️
    legacy
    insolvency · CAP-SS
  11. 2020-12-20
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  12. 2020-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-10-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 1998-01-09
    ➕
    WEBSTER, Andrew Paul appointed
    secretary
  17. 1998-01-09
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Eileen, Dr appointed
    director
  18. 1998-01-09
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Ian Andrew, Dr appointed
    director
  19. 1997-12-22
    ➖
    HIGHSTONE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 1997-12-22
    ➖
    HIGHSTONE DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  21. 1997-12-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APLEN LIMITED
  22. 1997-12-10
    ➕
    HIGHSTONE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 1997-12-10
    ➕
    HIGHSTONE DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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

1 high ·
1 insolvency-related filing on record
high

Filings relating to insolvency, liquidation, or administration exist in the company's history. Review before proceeding.

Evidence: 2020-12-20: legacy

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Dr Eileen Mackenzie
Individual · British · DOB 06/1949 · age 77
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016
Dr Ian Andrew Mackenzie
Individual · British · DOB 08/1946 · age 80
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated1997-12-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

10 Wellington Street
Cambridge
CB1 1HW

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-08
Last: 2026-02-22

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

WEBSTER, Andrew Paul→
secretary · appointed 1998-01-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACKENZIE, Eileen, Dr→
director · ~77y · appointed 1998-01-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACKENZIE, Ian Andrew, Dr→
director · ~80y · appointed 1998-01-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HIGHSTONE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-12-10 · resigned 1997-12-22
Resigned
HIGHSTONE DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1997-12-10 · resigned 1997-12-22
Resigned

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

Recent filings (77 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-24
capital-alter-shares-subdivision
capital · SH02
2021-03-01
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2021-03-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-16
legacy
capital · SH20
2020-12-20