MERLIN AVIATION LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
03555224 · ltd · incorporated 1998-04-29
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
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£295.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
81/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 51102
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
11 officers (3 active, 11 linked, 5 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
94 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
81/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
85
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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £295,741
Net assets shrinking
Down £33,784 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£296k
↓ 10% YoY
Current Assets
£2k
↑ 242% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£66k£132k£198k£264k£330kDec 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£295.7k£329.5k
Current assets£2.2k£648
Net assets£295.7k£329.5k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (35 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2024-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-05-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-06-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-10-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-10-15
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2018-08-24
    ➖
    SWIRE, Adrian Christopher, Sir resigned
    director
  12. 2018-07-17
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  13. 2018-07-05
    ➕
    SWIRE, Samuel Compton appointed
    director
  14. 2018-05-23
    📄
    legacy
    miscellaneous · RP04CS01
  15. 2018-04-09
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2017-10-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2015-09-29
    ➕
    SUTTON, Jonathan Lawrence appointed
    secretary
  19. 2015-09-29
    ➖
    FARMERY, Joanna Louise resigned
    secretary
  20. 2009-01-01
    ➕
    FARMERY, Joanna Louise appointed
    secretary
  21. 2008-12-31
    ➖
    ADAMS, James Robert resigned
    secretary
  22. 2007-07-01
    ➕
    CARR, Sarah appointed
    director
  23. 2005-12-01
    ➖
    HANNA, Raynham George resigned
    director
  24. 2004-05-01
    ➕
    ADAMS, James Robert appointed
    secretary
  25. 2004-04-30
    ➖
    POPE, Geoffrey Christopher resigned
    secretary
  26. 2000-03-07
    ➕
    HANNA, Raynham George appointed
    director
  27. 1999-09-26
    ➖
    HANNA, Mark resigned
    director
  28. 1998-07-24
    ➕
    SWIRE, Adrian Christopher, Sir appointed
    director
  29. 1998-06-12
    ➕
    POPE, Geoffrey Christopher appointed
    secretary
  30. 1998-06-12
    ➖
    JPCORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  31. 1998-06-12
    ➕
    HANNA, Mark appointed
    director
  32. 1998-06-12
    ➖
    JPCORD LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  33. 1998-04-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As MERLIN AVIATION LIMITED
  34. 1998-04-29
    ➕
    JPCORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  35. 1998-04-29
    ➕
    JPCORD LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

76/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100
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 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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.)

Group structure

Airborne Taxi Services Limited holds 25-50% — a significant corporate investor but not a controlling parent.

🏛️
Airborne Taxi Services Limited
Corporate parent · holds 25-50% shares
significant stake
⬇
MERLIN AVIATION LIMITED
This company · 03555224

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Sarah Carr
Individual · British · DOB 11/1963 · age 63
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Airborne Taxi Services Limited
Corporate entity
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.

🔒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

6 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
Incorporated1998-04-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC51102 — SIC 51102

Registered office

22 Chancery Lane
London
WC2A 1LS
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-13
Last: 2026-04-29

Officers (3 active · 8 resigned)

SUTTON, Jonathan Lawrence→
secretary · appointed 2015-09-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CARR, Sarah→
director · ~63y · appointed 2007-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWIRE, Samuel Compton→
director · ~46y · appointed 2018-07-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ADAMS, James Robert→
secretary · appointed 2004-05-01 · resigned 2008-12-31
Resigned
FARMERY, Joanna Louise→
secretary · appointed 2009-01-01 · resigned 2015-09-29
Resigned
POPE, Geoffrey Christopher→
secretary · appointed 1998-06-12 · resigned 2004-04-30
Resigned
JPCORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-04-29 · resigned 1998-06-12
Resigned
HANNA, Mark→
director · ~67y · appointed 1998-06-12 · resigned 1999-09-26
Resigned
HANNA, Raynham George→
director · ~98y · appointed 2000-03-07 · resigned 2005-12-01
Resigned
SWIRE, Adrian Christopher, Sir→
director · ~94y · appointed 1998-07-24 · resigned 2018-08-24
Resigned
JPCORD LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-04-29 · resigned 1998-06-12
Resigned

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

Recent filings (94 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-30
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-09-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-03