AIRFIELD LIGHTING SYSTEMS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04757500 · ltd · incorporated 2003-05-08

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 May 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). 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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

53 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-05-31	2024-05-31

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand

2026-02-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-02-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-02-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-02-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-02-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-05-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-02-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-02-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-03-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-02-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-05-23
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-03-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-05-12
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-01-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2014-05-15
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2008-09-30
➖
POWELL, Alan resigned
secretary
2008-09-30
➖
POWELL, Alan resigned
director
2003-05-08
🏢
Company incorporated
As AIRFIELD LIGHTING SYSTEMS LIMITED
2003-05-08
➕
REECE, Anthony George appointed
director
2003-05-08
➕
POWELL, Alan appointed
secretary
2003-05-08
➕
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-05-08
➖
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-05-08
➕
POWELL, Alan appointed
director
2003-05-08
➕
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2003-05-08
➖
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director

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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — 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 70 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 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

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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Anthony George Reece Individual · British · DOB 07/1956 · age 70	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	08/05/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Manufacturing · NP postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
21 RUG STREET LTD→ 15367502 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ABINGDON FLOORING LIMITED→ 04923718 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
ABLE OFFICE FURNITURE LIMITED→ 05263073 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
ACE PERFORMANCE CARS LIMITED→ 07799154 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
ADHESIVE BACKED MATERIALS LTD→ 04812637 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
ADVANCED ELASTOMER SYSTEMS UNLIMITED→ 02512288 · est 1990 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	35y	—	—
ADVANTA GROUP LIMITED→ 03932277 · est 2000 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	26y	—	—
AETHER AEROSPACE LTD→ 14541439 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
AFFORDABLE LEISURE UK LTD→ 05166532 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
AIRLEASE AVIATION SERVICES LTD→ 14455611 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
AIRQUEE LIMITED→ 03129324 · est 1995 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	30y	—	—
AIRSOLVE LIMITED→ 08594849 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—

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

Incorporated2003-05-08

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Registered office

213 Springvale Industrial Estate

Cwmbran

Torfaen

NP44 5BJ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-22

Last: 2026-05-08

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

REECE, Anthony George→

director · ~70y · appointed 2003-05-08

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

POWELL, Alan→

secretary · appointed 2003-05-08 · resigned 2008-09-30

Resigned

SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-05-08 · resigned 2003-05-08

Resigned

POWELL, Alan→

director · ~82y · appointed 2003-05-08 · resigned 2008-09-30

Resigned

INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-05-08 · resigned 2003-05-08

Resigned

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