1ST AIR LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
05549033 · ltd · incorporated 2005-08-30
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
- · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
What changed my view
Last 30 days
No material changes in the last 30 days.
Last 90 days
No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.
Last 180 days
No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 77). 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
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
55 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.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | — | £109.1k |
| Current assets | — | £325.8k |
| Cash | — | £190.4k |
| Debtors | — | £128.1k |
| Net assets | — | £64.5k |
| Average employees | 7 | — |
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 address
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 address
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-08📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2025-12-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-08-17📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-08-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-08-14📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-08-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2019-06-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-07-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-07-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2006-10-01➕BROWN, David appointeddirector
- 2005-08-30🏢Company incorporatedAs 1ST AIR LIMITED
- 2005-08-30➕BROWN, Christine appointedsecretary
- 2005-08-30➕BROWN, Gary appointeddirector
Owner dependency
91/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 77 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
96/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 77 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Gary Brown Individual · British · DOB 05/1981 · age 45 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mr David Brown Individual · British · DOB 09/1949 · age 77 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A H ELECTRICAL & EV SERVICES LTD→ 13741120 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ACTION HANDLING EQUIPMENT LIMITED→ 00985730 · est 1970 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 55y | — | — |
| AD TOTAL FAB LTD→ 13164328 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| AG OIL LTD→ 13278177 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| AINSWORTH TECHNICAL SERVICES LTD→ 11343781 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AIR PUMPING LIMITED→ 03936996 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 26y | — | — |
| AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED→ 11492514 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AK AVIATION LTD→ 16679765 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AK ELECTRICAL (RAYNE) LIMITED→ 06142951 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| AKD & SON LIMITED→ 09540869 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| AKHTER COMPUTERS LIMITED→ 02253061 · est 1988 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 37y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2005-08-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Registered office
Lakeview House
4 Woodbrook Crescent
Billericay
Essex
CM12 0EQ
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-13
Last: 2025-08-30
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
BROWN, David→
Activedirector · ~77y · appointed 2006-10-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (55 total)
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-05-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-01
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-08-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-08-14