1ST SYSTEMS ENGINEERING LTD.

💤Zombieactive
05575638 · ltd · incorporated 2005-09-27
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). 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 (78/100)

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 (1 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
52 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 accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Jan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Average employees200200

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-07-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-07-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-06-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-08-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-08-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-09-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-07-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2014-09-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2014-09-29
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2014-09-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2012-05-14
    ➖
    JACKSON-SCOTT ASSOCIATES LTD resigned
    corporate-secretary
  17. 2007-10-01
    ➖
    TUFO, Rosalia resigned
    secretary
  18. 2007-10-01
    ➕
    JACKSON-SCOTT ASSOCIATES LTD appointed
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2005-09-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 1ST SYSTEMS ENGINEERING LTD.
  20. 2005-09-27
    ➕
    TUFO, Joseph John appointed
    director
  21. 2005-09-27
    ➕
    TUFO, Rosalia appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

100/100
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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
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.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Joseph John Tufo
Individual · English · DOB 02/1959 · age 67
25–50%
—25-50% shares27/09/2016
Mrs Rosalia Tufo
Individual · British · DOB 08/1953 · age 73
25–50%
—25-50% shares27/09/2016

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

8 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
Incorporated2005-09-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

50 Temple Road
Epsom
Surrey
KT19 8HA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-01
Last: 2025-09-17

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

TUFO, Joseph John→
director · ~67y · appointed 2005-09-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TUFO, Rosalia→
secretary · appointed 2005-09-27 · resigned 2007-10-01
Resigned
JACKSON-SCOTT ASSOCIATES LTD→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-10-01 · resigned 2012-05-14
Resigned

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

Recent filings (52 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-09-27