A. C. READ ELECTRICS LTD

🌳Matureactive
04593174 · ltd · incorporated 2002-11-18
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
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Electrical installation
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (63/100).

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, 1 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
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
57 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees300300

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-19
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  3. 2024-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-10-02
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  5. 2023-10-01
    ➕
    READ, Anthea Diane appointed
    director
  6. 2023-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-09-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-08-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-09-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-08-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-08-15
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  15. 2016-08-13
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  16. 2015-11-21
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2002-11-18
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A. C. READ ELECTRICS LTD
  18. 2002-11-18
    ➕
    READ, Anthea Diane appointed
    secretary
  19. 2002-11-18
    ➕
    READ, Adam Christopher appointed
    director
  20. 2002-11-18
    ➕
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2002-11-18
    ➖
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2002-11-18
    ➕
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2002-11-18
    ➖
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "READ" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

56/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • 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.
  • 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Anthea Diane Read
Individual · British · DOB 12/1974 · age 52
25–50%
—25-50% shares19/11/2024
Mr Adam Christopher Read
Individual · British · DOB 05/1976 · age 50
25–50%
—25-50% shares30/06/2016

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

6 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
Incorporated2002-11-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43210 — Electrical installation

Registered office

30 Gascoigne Road
New Addington
Croydon
Surrey
CR0 0NA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-02
Last: 2025-11-18

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

READ, Anthea Diane→
secretary · appointed 2002-11-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
READ, Adam Christopher→
director · ~50y · appointed 2002-11-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
READ, Anthea Diane→
director · ~52y · appointed 2023-10-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-11-18 · resigned 2002-11-18
Resigned
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-11-18 · resigned 2002-11-18
Resigned

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

Recent filings (57 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-19
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-11-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-27
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-27