AFE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04865468 · ltd · incorporated 2003-08-13

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 Aug 2025

Net worth

£1.7k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Bookkeeping activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 71). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -44% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (75/100)

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

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

50 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Positive net assets

Net assets £1,685

Net assets shrinking

Down £1,524 YoY

Cash draining

Cash down 44% YoY

Cash YoY

-44%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£3k

↓ 44% YoY

Net Worth

£2k

↓ 47% YoY

Current Assets

£4k

↓ 40% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-08-31	2024-08-31
Total assets	£1.7k	£3.2k
Current assets	£4.4k	£7.3k
Cash	£3.0k	£5.4k
Debtors	£1.3k	£1.8k
Net assets	£1.7k	£3.2k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2025-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-05-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-02
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-05-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-08-31
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-05-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2003-08-13
🏢
Company incorporated
As AFE LIMITED
2003-08-13
➕
POWER, Gerry Michael appointed
secretary
2003-08-13
➕
ARCHER, Nina appointed
director
2003-08-13
➕
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-08-13
➖
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-08-13
➕
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2003-08-13
➖
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 71 — 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 71 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
Ms Nina Archer Individual · British · DOB 08/1955 · age 71	75–100%	—	sig. influence75-100% shares · significant influence	30/06/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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

Incorporated2003-08-13

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC69202 — Bookkeeping activities

Registered office

28 College Crescent

Windsor

Berkshire

SL4 3PG

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-27

Last: 2025-08-13

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

POWER, Gerry Michael→

secretary · appointed 2003-08-13

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ARCHER, Nina→

director · ~71y · appointed 2003-08-13

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-08-13 · resigned 2003-08-13

Resigned

INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-08-13 · resigned 2003-08-13

Resigned

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