A. B. S. PLANT HIRE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
05405231 · ltd · incorporated 2005-03-29
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Renting and leasing of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (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, 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
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
56 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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£0Mar 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

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-04
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  2. 2025-06-30
    ➖
    AITKEN, Thomas Paul resigned
    director
  3. 2025-06-30
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  4. 2025-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-05-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-06-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-07-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-06-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-04-17
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-04-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2005-03-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A. B. S. PLANT HIRE LIMITED
  18. 2005-03-29
    ➕
    AITKEN, Lynda Jane appointed
    secretary
  19. 2005-03-29
    ➕
    AITKEN, Lynda Jane appointed
    director
  20. 2005-03-29
    ➕
    AITKEN, Stephen Paul appointed
    director
  21. 2005-03-29
    ➕
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2005-03-29
    ➖
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2005-03-29
    ➕
    AITKEN, Thomas Paul appointed
    director
  24. 2005-03-29
    ➕
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2005-03-29
    ➖
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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 ·
Name changed recently
medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2025-06-30: certificate-change-of-name-company

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stephen Paul Aitken
Individual · British · DOB 09/1959 · age 67
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2005-03-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC77320 — Renting and leasing of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment

Registered office

Green Acres The Green
Goosey
Faringdon
Oxfordshire
SN7 8PA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-18
Last: 2025-07-04

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

AITKEN, Lynda Jane→
secretary · appointed 2005-03-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
AITKEN, Lynda Jane→
director · ~67y · appointed 2005-03-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
AITKEN, Stephen Paul→
director · ~67y · appointed 2005-03-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-03-29 · resigned 2005-03-29
Resigned
AITKEN, Thomas Paul→
director · ~42y · appointed 2005-03-29 · resigned 2025-06-30
Resigned
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-03-29 · resigned 2005-03-29
Resigned

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

Recent filings (56 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-05
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-07-04
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2025-06-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-09