ASTON LONDON LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04336351 · ltd · incorporated 2001-12-07
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
£2.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45112
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 45200SIC 45200
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 74). 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 (78/100)

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

Company profile
address, 2 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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
61 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
80
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 £2,773

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£3k
↑ 121% YoY
Current Assets
£17k
↑ 343% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£13k-£7k-£1k£5k£11k£17kMar 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£2.8k£-13.4k
Current assets£17.1k£3.9k
Net assets£2.8k£-13.4k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-07-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2022-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-12-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2020-10-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-08-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-12-10
    ➖
    FIELD END REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  14. 2016-12-10
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  15. 2015-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-12-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2007-03-14
    ➖
    STRATFORD, Roy resigned
    secretary
  18. 2007-03-14
    ➕
    FIELD END REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2001-12-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASTON LONDON LIMITED
  20. 2001-12-07
    ➕
    STRATFORD, Peter James appointed
    director
  21. 2001-12-07
    ➕
    STRATFORD, Roy appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

100/100
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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Peter James Stratford
Individual · British · DOB 10/1952 · age 74
75–100%
—75-100% 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
Incorporated2001-12-07
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45112 — SIC 45112

Registered office

Salisbury House
London
EC2M 5SQ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-29
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-21
Last: 2025-12-07

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

STRATFORD, Peter James→
director · ~74y · appointed 2001-12-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STRATFORD, Roy→
secretary · appointed 2001-12-07 · resigned 2007-03-14
Resigned
FIELD END REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-03-14 · resigned 2016-12-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (61 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-21