APEX AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

03644372 · ltd · incorporated 1998-10-05

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 Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 33200

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

62020Information technology consultancy activities
62090Other information technology service activities
71121Engineering design activities for industrial process and production

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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 (75/100)

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

Company profile

address, 4 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

71 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Average employees	200	200

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 capital

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2026-02-13
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-01-29
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2026-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-01-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-01-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-01-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-01-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-10-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
1998-10-12
➕
POULTNEY, Deborah Jane appointed
secretary
1998-10-12
➕
POULTNEY, Robert John appointed
director
1998-10-12
➖
JSA SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1998-10-12
➖
JSA NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
1998-10-05
🏢
Company incorporated
As APEX AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS LIMITED
1998-10-05
➕
JSA SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1998-10-05
➕
JSA NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-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 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
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.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Robert John Poultney Individual · British · DOB 10/1966 · age 60	50–75%	50–75%	board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control	06/04/2016
Mrs Deborah Jane Poultney Individual · British · DOB 05/1969 · age 57	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016

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

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ANDERSEN EV PLC→ 13210392 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
ANGLO PUMPS LIMITED→ 02434425 · est 1989 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	36y	—	—
ANNA CLARE BESPOKE LTD→ 16458174 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ANTHEA GRACE STUDIOS LIMITED→ 16411873 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
APASTRON AVIATION LTD→ 12876721 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
APP COMPOSITES LTD→ 16947202 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

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

Incorporated1998-10-05

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC33200 — SIC 33200

Registered office

2 Severn Drive

Newport Pagnell

Buckinghamshire

MK16 9BX

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-02-27

Last: 2026-02-13

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

POULTNEY, Deborah Jane→

secretary · appointed 1998-10-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

POULTNEY, Robert John→

director · ~60y · appointed 1998-10-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

JSA SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-10-05 · resigned 1998-10-12

Resigned

JSA NOMINEES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-10-05 · resigned 1998-10-12

Resigned

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

Recent filings (71 total)

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2026-02-13

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-02-13

capital-allotment-shares

capital · SH01

2026-01-29