ANVIL ENGINEERING (NORFOLK) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05311072 · ltd · incorporated 2004-12-11
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 Dec 2025
Net worth
£1.3k
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
Asset-holding vehicle with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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 (76/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
58 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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
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
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,270

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£1k
↑ 52% YoY
Current Assets
£109k
↑ 140% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£22k£44k£65k£87k£109kDec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Total assets£65.5k£17.9k
Current assets£109.1k£45.5k
Net assets£1.3k£833

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

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 (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-06-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-12-15
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  3. 2025-12-15
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2025-12-01
    ➖
    LAKE, Angela Jane resigned
    director
  5. 2025-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-08-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-06-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-05-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-07-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-06-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-08-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2016-08-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2016-08-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  17. 2015-01-01
    ➖
    LAKE, Angela Jane resigned
    secretary
  18. 2015-01-01
    ➕
    LAKE, Angela Jane appointed
    director
  19. 2004-12-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ANVIL ENGINEERING (NORFOLK) LIMITED
  20. 2004-12-11
    ➕
    LAKE, Stephen John appointed
    director
  21. 2004-12-11
    ➕
    LAKE, Angela Jane appointed
    secretary
  22. 2004-12-11
    ➕
    CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2004-12-11
    ➖
    CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

Owner dependency

93/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

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

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stephen John Lake
Individual · British · DOB 12/1966 · age 60
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Angela Jane Lakeceased 01/12/2025· 25-50% shares

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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2004-12-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25110 — Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures

Registered office

31 Pansey Drive
Dersingham
King's Lynn
PE31 6PX
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-25
Last: 2025-12-11

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

LAKE, Stephen John→
director · ~60y · appointed 2004-12-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LAKE, Angela Jane→
secretary · appointed 2004-12-11 · resigned 2015-01-01
Resigned
CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-12-11 · resigned 2004-12-11
Resigned
LAKE, Angela Jane→
director · ~30y · appointed 2015-01-01 · resigned 2025-12-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (58 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-06-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-18
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-12-15
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-14