AIR HANDLING SYSTEMS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

03933476 · ltd · incorporated 2000-02-25

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

Opportunity decay

approaching window · 12-months

Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.

· Oldest live charge 18.9y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Dec 2024

Net worth

£1.59M

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 75). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 18.9y

65/100

clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

· Oldest live charge is 18.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 30/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

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

Lenders & charges

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)

Directors & officers

17 officers (8 active, 17 linked, 14 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

5 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

102 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

83/100Exceptional

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £1,589,992

Net assets shrinking

Down £281,772 YoY

Cash YoY

+19%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£5.9m

↑ 19% YoY

Net Worth

£1.6m

↓ 15% YoY

Current Assets

£7.1m

↑ 20% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£1.71M	£1.96M
Current assets	£7.06M	£5.88M
Cash	£5.94M	£4.98M
Debtors	£947.4k	£900.7k
Net assets	£1.59M	£1.87M

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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

filing

• 1 officers

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 officers

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (48 events)Click to expand

2026-04-29
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-04-16
➕
JOHNSON, Leonard George appointed
director
2025-10-06
📄
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2025-10-06
📄
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2025-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-medium
accounts · AA
2025-06-23
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-06-21
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-06-21
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-06-10
➖
JOHNSON, Leonard George resigned
director
2024-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-09
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-07-09
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2023-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-15
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-06-15
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-06-15
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-06-15
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-06-02
➕
CHAPE, Mark Stuart appointed
director
2023-06-02
➕
HOLMES, Jennifer Ann appointed
director
2023-06-02
➖
JOHNSON, Leonard George resigned
secretary
2022-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-02
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2020-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-06
➕
GRAY, Jared Ian appointed
director
2019-02-11
➖
CHERRINGTON, Matthew resigned
director
2017-12-01
➖
BIRKS, Stephen resigned
director
2015-05-01
➕
BIRKS, Stephen appointed
director
2015-05-01
➕
CHERRINGTON, Matthew appointed
director
2014-08-28
➕
HODGSON, Wayne appointed
director
2014-08-19
➕
TAYLOR, Richard Matthew appointed
director
2013-06-30
➖
NELSON, Dale Andrew resigned
director
2013-06-30
➖
O'DONOUGHUE, Kenneth resigned
director
2012-02-22
➕
O'DONOUGHUE, Kenneth appointed
director
2007-07-25
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
2007-06-26
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
2006-11-21
➕
NELSON, Dale Andrew appointed
director
2006-09-29
➕
CAMPBELL, Robert Wesley appointed
director
2005-01-04
➕
JOHNSON, Lee Hartley appointed
director
2004-12-21
➖
BELL, David resigned
director
2000-02-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As AIR HANDLING SYSTEMS LIMITED
2000-02-25
➕
JOHNSON, Leonard George appointed
secretary
2000-02-25
➕
JL NOMINEES TWO LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2000-02-25
➖
JL NOMINEES TWO LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2000-02-25
➕
BELL, David appointed
director
2000-02-25
➕
JOHNSON, Leonard George appointed
director
2000-02-25
➕
JL NOMINEES ONE LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2000-02-25
➖
JL NOMINEES ONE LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

73/100

High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS

-8 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 70+: Senior director is approximately 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Lee Hartley Johnson Individual · British · DOB 01/1974 · age 52	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	28/10/2024

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mr Leonard George Johnsonceased 28/10/2024· 75-100% shares

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 →

Similar companies

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ACCESS LADDERS (UK) LIMITED→ 02983939 · est 1994 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	31y	—	—
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ADVANCED ENERGY MINERALS (UK) LIMITED→ 12768286 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
AERIAL EXPOSURE LTD→ 10175155 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
AGBR LTD→ 13678339 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
AGLJH LIMITED→ 16419973 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
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AJ ALUMINIUM LTD→ 13666401 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
AJ PLATES LTD→ 15995913 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
AJK RAIL LIMITED→ 16137658 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—

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

Incorporated2000-02-25

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Registered office

3/5 Furnace Industrial Estate

Shildon

County Durham

DL4 1QB

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-08

Last: 2025-09-24