ASHBURTON STOVE AND FLUE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
06261892 · ltd · incorporated 2007-05-29
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 May 2025
Net worth
£30.0k
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 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). 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
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
48 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 £30,045

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£30k
Current Assets
£34k
Current Liabilities
—
£0£7k£14k£21k£27k£34kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£31.0k—
Current assets£34.3k—
Net assets£30.0k—
Average employees—100

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-04
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  6. 2022-01-04
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2022-01-01
    ➖
    CHEW, Jonathon Paul resigned
    director
  8. 2021-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-06-21
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-06-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2010-09-01
    ➕
    CHEW, Jonathon Paul appointed
    director
  18. 2007-05-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASHBURTON STOVE AND FLUE LIMITED
  19. 2007-05-29
    ➕
    CHEW, Shelby appointed
    secretary
  20. 2007-05-29
    ➕
    CHEW, Stephen Timothy appointed
    director
  21. 2007-05-29
    ➕
    LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2007-05-29
    ➖
    LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2007-05-29
    ➕
    LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2007-05-29
    ➖
    LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

98/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 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
Stephen Timothy Chew
Individual · British · DOB 06/1956 · age 70
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Jonathon Paul Chewceased 01/01/2022· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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

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
Incorporated2007-05-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25110 — Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures

Registered office

6 Jordan Meadow, Ashburton
Newton Abbot
Devon
TQ13 7DH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-12
Last: 2026-05-29

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

CHEW, Shelby→
secretary · appointed 2007-05-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CHEW, Stephen Timothy→
director · ~70y · appointed 2007-05-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2007-05-29 · resigned 2007-05-29
Resigned
CHEW, Jonathon Paul→
director · ~77y · appointed 2010-09-01 · resigned 2022-01-01
Resigned
LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2007-05-29 · resigned 2007-05-29
Resigned

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

Recent filings (48 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-01
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-01-04
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-01-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-19