ABL3 ARCHITECTS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04397787 · ltd · incorporated 2002-03-19
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 19.7y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
81/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other engineering activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). 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 (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 19.7y

65/100
clean up first

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 19.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (56/100)

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
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
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
89 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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-10-28
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-02-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-07-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2023-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-01-06
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2023-01-06
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2023-01-06
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2022-02-03
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  11. 2022-02-03
    ✏️
    change-of-name-request-comments
    change-of-name · NM06
  12. 2022-02-03
    ✏️
    change-of-name-notice
    change-of-name · CONNOT
  13. 2022-01-13
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  14. 2022-01-13
    ✏️
    change-of-name-notice
    change-of-name · CONNOT
  15. 2021-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2020-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2019-11-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2015-02-23
    ➕
    BRYANT, Tamsin Lemesle appointed
    director
  19. 2015-01-01
    ➖
    COLLINGWOOD, Robert Arthur resigned
    secretary
  20. 2015-01-01
    ➖
    COLLINGWOOD, Robert Arthur resigned
    director
  21. 2006-09-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  22. 2004-05-18
    ➕
    COLLINGWOOD, Robert Arthur appointed
    director
  23. 2002-03-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABL3 ARCHITECTS LIMITED
  24. 2002-03-19
    ➕
    ADAMS, Robert Lemesle appointed
    director
  25. 2002-03-19
    ➕
    COLLINGWOOD, Robert Arthur appointed
    secretary
  26. 2002-03-19
    ➕
    A.C. SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2002-03-19
    ➖
    A.C. SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 2002-03-19
    ➕
    A.C. DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  29. 2002-03-19
    ➖
    A.C. DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

83/100
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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.

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 70 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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 low
Multiple registered office changes
low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Robert Lemesle Adams
Individual · British · DOB 05/1956 · age 70
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2002-03-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities

Registered office

The Old Post Office 6 Church Street
Chiswick
London
W4 2PD
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-02
Last: 2026-03-19

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

ADAMS, Robert Lemesle→
director · ~70y · appointed 2002-03-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRYANT, Tamsin Lemesle→
director · ~40y · appointed 2015-02-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COLLINGWOOD, Robert Arthur→
secretary · appointed 2002-03-19 · resigned 2015-01-01
Resigned
A.C. SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-03-19 · resigned 2002-03-19
Resigned
COLLINGWOOD, Robert Arthur→
director · ~72y · appointed 2004-05-18 · resigned 2015-01-01
Resigned
A.C. DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-03-19 · resigned 2002-03-19
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Debenture1 property11/09/2006—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (89 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-06
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-03
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-07-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-07
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-01-06
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-01-06
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-01-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-23
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2022-02-03