AUTOMATION 4 LTD

🌳Matureactive
05091138 · ltd · incorporated 2004-04-01
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Sept 2024
Net worth
£-26.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 27900
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 93210Activities of amusement parks and theme parks
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Deleverage or restructure. Leverage at 100% of assets — consider sale of non-core assets or equity injection. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

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, 2 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
8 officers (3 active, 8 linked, 5 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
70 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
65
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £26,299
High leverage
Liabilities are 100% of total assets
Leverage
100%
Liabilities / Total assets

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£26k
↓ 121% YoY
Current Assets
£36k
↑ 83% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£26k-£14k-£1k£11k£23k£36kSept 2023Sept 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-09-302023-09-30
Total assets£41.2k£24.9k
Current assets£35.9k£19.7k
Net assets£-26.3k£-11.9k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-05-06
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  8. 2019-07-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-02-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2018-07-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-04-25
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-04-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-04-01
    ➖
    HENRY, Martin David resigned
    director
  17. 2012-04-01
    ➖
    GROVES, John Anthony resigned
    director
  18. 2011-10-21
    ➖
    BIRCHALL, David resigned
    director
  19. 2009-03-01
    ➕
    GROVES, John Anthony appointed
    director
  20. 2008-10-20
    ➕
    HENRY, Martin David appointed
    director
  21. 2007-07-19
    ➕
    BIRCHALL, David appointed
    director
  22. 2004-09-27
    ➕
    GROVES, Michelle Annie appointed
    secretary
  23. 2004-09-27
    ➕
    GROVES, Michelle Annie appointed
    director
  24. 2004-09-27
    ➕
    GROVES, Timothy John appointed
    director
  25. 2004-09-27
    ➖
    RM REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  26. 2004-09-27
    ➖
    RM NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  27. 2004-04-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AUTOMATION 4 LTD
  28. 2004-04-01
    ➕
    RM REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  29. 2004-04-01
    ➕
    RM NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

76/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

66/100
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 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Timothy John Groves
Individual · British · DOB 03/1970 · age 56
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting01/10/2016
Michelle Annie Groves
Individual · British · DOB 12/1972 · age 54
25–50%
—25-50% shares18/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2004-04-01
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC27900 — SIC 27900

Registered office

Kingfisher Cottage Tang Road
High Birstwith
Harrogate
HG3 2JU
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-15
Last: 2026-04-01

Officers (3 active · 5 resigned)

GROVES, Michelle Annie→
secretary · appointed 2004-09-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GROVES, Michelle Annie→
director · ~54y · appointed 2004-09-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GROVES, Timothy John→
director · ~56y · appointed 2004-09-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RM REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2004-04-01 · resigned 2004-09-27
Resigned
BIRCHALL, David→
director · ~51y · appointed 2007-07-19 · resigned 2011-10-21
Resigned
GROVES, John Anthony→
director · ~84y · appointed 2009-03-01 · resigned 2012-04-01
Resigned
HENRY, Martin David→
director · ~73y · appointed 2008-10-20 · resigned 2015-04-01
Resigned
RM NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2004-04-01 · resigned 2004-09-27
Resigned

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

Recent filings (70 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-24
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2020-05-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-07-09