ASHLEY ENGINES LTD

💤Zombieactive
05155486 · ltd · incorporated 2004-06-16
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 8.6y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 8.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
66 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Jun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Average employees6500

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-07-01
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  4. 2024-07-01
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  5. 2024-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-10-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-12-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-10-31
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  13. 2017-10-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Banl PLC
  14. 2017-02-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-16
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2016-02-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-11-10
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  18. 2010-03-31
    ALLEN, Georgina Faye appointed
    secretary
  19. 2010-03-31
    PADHIAR, Ramesh resigned
    secretary
  20. 2010-03-31
    PADHIAR, Ramesh resigned
    director
  21. 2004-06-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASHLEY ENGINES LTD
  22. 2004-06-16
    ALLEN, Ben Charles appointed
    director
  23. 2004-06-16
    PADHIAR, Ramesh appointed
    secretary
  24. 2004-06-16
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2004-06-16
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2004-06-16
    PADHIAR, Ramesh appointed
    director

Owner dependency

85/100
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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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.)

Group structure

32 Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
32 Holdings Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
ASHLEY ENGINES LTD
This company · 05155486

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
32 Holdings Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75-100% shares05/02/2024
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Ben Charles Allenceased 05/02/2024· 75-100% shares

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

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
Incorporated2004-06-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Units 1 & 2 Circuit 32 Easton Road
Bristol
BS5 0DB

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last: 2025-06-16

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

ALLEN, Georgina Faye
secretary · appointed 2010-03-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ALLEN, Ben Charles
director · ~46y · appointed 2004-06-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PADHIAR, Ramesh
secretary · appointed 2004-06-16 · resigned 2010-03-31
Resigned
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-06-16 · resigned 2004-06-16
Resigned
PADHIAR, Ramesh
director · ~69y · appointed 2004-06-16 · resigned 2010-03-31
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Banl
National Westminster Banl PLC
A registered charge1 property27/10/2017
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (66 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-01
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-07-01
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2024-07-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-21