AUTUMN ENGINEERING (NOTTINGHAM) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
05411392 · ltd · incorporated 2005-04-01
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£205.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 25990
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
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
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 · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £205,114

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£205k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£224k
↓ 33% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£67k£135k£202k£269k£337kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£205.1k£203.7k
Current assets£224.2k£336.8k
Net assets£205.1k£203.7k

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 (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-02-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-01-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-03-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-01-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-04-12
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2016-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-04-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-02-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2005-04-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AUTUMN ENGINEERING (NOTTINGHAM) LIMITED
  17. 2005-04-01
    ➕
    GRETTON, Ruth Mary appointed
    secretary
  18. 2005-04-01
    ➕
    GRETTON, Alan appointed
    director
  19. 2005-04-01
    ➕
    GRETTON, Ruth Mary appointed
    director
  20. 2005-04-01
    ➕
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2005-04-01
    ➖
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2005-04-01
    ➕
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2005-04-01
    ➖
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

84/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +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 64. 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

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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alan Gretton
Individual · British · DOB 05/1964 · age 62
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2005-04-01
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25990 — SIC 25990

Registered office

1a Kille House
Chinnor Road
Thame
Oxfordshire
OX9 3NU
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-15
Last: 2026-04-01

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

GRETTON, Ruth Mary→
secretary · appointed 2005-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GRETTON, Alan→
director · ~62y · appointed 2005-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GRETTON, Ruth Mary→
director · ~64y · appointed 2005-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-04-01 · resigned 2005-04-01
Resigned
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-04-01 · resigned 2005-04-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (56 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-07-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-03
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-04-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-14