A J HARDWARE LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04551127 · ltd · incorporated 2002-10-02
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
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). 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).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 8.2y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 8.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: low (54/100)Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.
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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
61 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
- 2025-10-30📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-10-30📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-08-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-07-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-10-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-10-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-01📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-10-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-02📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2018-04-30🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2017-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-08📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2017-08-08📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2002-10-02🏢Company incorporatedAs A J HARDWARE LIMITED
- 2002-10-02➕SHAH, Shila Ajay appointedsecretary
- 2002-10-02➕SHAH, Ajaykumar Hargovind appointeddirector
- 2002-10-02➕BTC (SECRETARIES) LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-10-02➖BTC (SECRETARIES) LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-10-02➕BTC (DIRECTORS) LTD appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2002-10-02➖BTC (DIRECTORS) LTD resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- 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
cleanNo 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 Ajaykumar Hargovind Shah Individual · British · DOB 04/1959 · age 67 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Shila Ajay Shah Individual · British · DOB 10/1960 · age 66 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| BURCHELL EDWARDS (MIDLANDS) LIMITED→ 06725240 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| CANADIAN PACIFIC (UK) LIMITED→ 00139651 · est 1915 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 111y | — | — |
| CAR MOVING GUYS LIMITED→ 13380781 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| CARTERFILMS LTD→ 13477444 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| CASEY JASEY LTD→ 13214521 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2002-10-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999
Registered office
49 Lothair Road
Luton
LU2 7XB
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-23
Last: 2025-08-09
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
Active
SHAH, Ajaykumar Hargovind→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2002-10-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BTC (SECRETARIES) LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-10-02 · resigned 2002-10-02
BTC (DIRECTORS) LTD→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-10-02 · resigned 2002-10-02
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
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | A registered charge | — | 30/04/2018 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (61 total)
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-30
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-02
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-03