A D S PLUMBING & HEATING ENGINEER LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04657769 · ltd · incorporated 2003-02-05
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 Feb 2026
Net worth
£23.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation
Sector: Construction
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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 (76/100)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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
65 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 · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £23,772
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£24k
↑ 57% YoY
Current Assets
£3k
↓ 45% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2026-02-28 | 2025-02-28 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £23.8k | £15.2k |
| Current assets | £3.4k | £6.2k |
| Net assets | £23.8k | £15.2k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
3
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2026-04-28📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-07-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-11📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2023-04-25📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2022-06-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-05📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2021-06-01📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2020-09-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-24📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-12-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-31📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-08-22📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-08-17📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2010-06-09➖LIND, Dawn resignedsecretary
- 2003-02-05🏢Company incorporatedAs A D S PLUMBING & HEATING ENGINEER LIMITED
- 2003-02-05➕SAWYERS, Ashley appointeddirector
- 2003-02-05➕LIND, Dawn appointedsecretary
Owner dependency
93/100
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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
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 64. 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Ashley Sawyers Individual · British · DOB 02/1962 · age 64 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence · trust interest · firm interest | 01/12/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Construction · CR postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A GORDON ELECTRICAL LTD→ 10069751 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| A&G PROPERTY CONSTRUCTION LIMITED→ 06792329 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| A1 BUILDERS CROYDON LIMITED→ 13062605 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| A2 UK SCAFFOLDING LTD→ 14118333 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ADDS SERVICES LTD→ 13504454 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ADGASUK LTD→ 11634229 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ADK ELECTRICAL LIMITED→ 16851601 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADOACE SERVICES LTD→ 16829096 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADRENT LIMITED→ 14078130 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ADRIAN PROCESSESS LIMITED→ 11271552 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ADRON LIMITED→ 04367026 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| ADS CARPETS LTD→ 15780490 · 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
Incorporated2003-02-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43220 — Plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation
Registered office
1 Holmesdale Road
Croydon
Surrey
CR0 2LR
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-11-30
Last made up to: 2026-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-19
Last: 2026-02-05
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
SAWYERS, Ashley→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2003-02-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
LIND, Dawn→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2003-02-05 · resigned 2010-06-09
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (65 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-05-08
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-10
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-05-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-10
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-04-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-16
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2021-06-05