ERMINE ENGINEERING COMPANY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
05093787 · ltd · incorporated 2004-04-05
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£606.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and acceptable with review structure.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 67/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

4 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 22.1y

15/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 22.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (4 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
75 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
85
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £606,565
Net assets shrinking
Down £225,222 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 56% YoY
Cash YoY
-56%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£353
↓ 56% YoY
Net Worth
£607k
↓ 27% YoY
Current Assets
£1.1m
↑ 5.8% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£217k£435k£652k£870k£1.1mMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£668.6k£926.6k
Current assets£1.09M£1.03M
Cash£353£798
Debtors£1.07M£1.01M
Net assets£606.6k£831.8k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
1
filing
  • • 1 mortgage
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 mortgage
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (30 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-20
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  2. 2026-05-20
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  3. 2025-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-04-07
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  5. 2025-04-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Funding Circle Limited
  6. 2024-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-12-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-12-20
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AAMD
  10. 2021-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-04-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-11-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-11-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-04-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2015-11-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2008-10-23
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  19. 2008-09-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  20. 2008-07-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  21. 2004-05-28
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  22. 2004-05-12
    ➕
    JOHNSON, David Leon appointed
    secretary
  23. 2004-05-12
    ➕
    JOHNSON, David Leon appointed
    director
  24. 2004-05-12
    ➕
    JUDD, Andrew John appointed
    director
  25. 2004-05-12
    ➕
    THOMPSON, Gary appointed
    director
  26. 2004-05-12
    ➖
    SECRETARIAL APPOINTMENTS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2004-05-12
    ➖
    CORPORATE APPOINTMENTS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  28. 2004-04-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ERMINE ENGINEERING COMPANY LIMITED
  29. 2004-04-05
    ➕
    SECRETARIAL APPOINTMENTS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  30. 2004-04-05
    ➕
    CORPORATE APPOINTMENTS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

68/100
High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • 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

1 med ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

3 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David Leon Johnson
Individual · British · DOB 08/1973 · age 53
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016
Mr Gary Thompson
Individual · British · DOB 03/1966 · age 60
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016
Mr Andrew John Judd
Individual · British · DOB 07/1968 · age 58
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2004-04-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25110 — Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures

Registered office

Francis House Silver Birch Park
Great Northern Terrace
Lincoln
Lincolnshire
LN5 8LG

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-30
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-19
Last: 2026-04-05

Officers (4 active · 2 resigned)

JOHNSON, David Leon→
secretary · appointed 2004-05-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSON, David Leon→
director · ~53y · appointed 2004-05-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JUDD, Andrew John→
director · ~58y · appointed 2004-05-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
THOMPSON, Gary→
director · ~60y · appointed 2004-05-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SECRETARIAL APPOINTMENTS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-04-05 · resigned 2004-05-12
Resigned
CORPORATE APPOINTMENTS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-04-05 · resigned 2004-05-12
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

4
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Funding Circle
Funding Circle Limited
A registered charge1 property02/04/2025—
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Debenture1 property03/09/2008—
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property18/07/200820/05/2026
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Debenture1 property28/05/200423/10/2008
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (75 total)

mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2026-05-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-08
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-05
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2021-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-12