AFO LTD

🌳Matureactive
06295904 · ltd · incorporated 2007-06-28
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 22290
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
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£16k£32k£49k£65k£81kJul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Total assets—£47.3k
Current assets—£80.9k
Cash—£56.4k
Debtors—£24.5k
Net assets—£47.3k
Average employees0—

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 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-03-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2020-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-07-19
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  12. 2017-07-19
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2017-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-06-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2016-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-04-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  17. 2007-07-01
    ➕
    SHARROCK, Martin appointed
    secretary
  18. 2007-07-01
    ➕
    BERRY, Stephen Gregory appointed
    director
  19. 2007-07-01
    ➕
    SHARROCK, Martin appointed
    director
  20. 2007-06-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AFO LTD
  21. 2007-06-28
    ➕
    UK COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2007-06-28
    ➖
    UK COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  23. 2007-06-28
    ➕
    UK INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director
  24. 2007-06-28
    ➖
    UK INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

83/100
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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

89/100
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 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Martin Sharrock
Individual · English · DOB 04/1964 · age 62
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mr Stephen Gregory Berry
Individual · English · DOB 02/1954 · age 72
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2007-06-28
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC22290 — SIC 22290

Registered office

3 Prospect Avenue
Bolton
BL2 3PN
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-12
Last: 2025-06-28

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

SHARROCK, Martin→
secretary · appointed 2007-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BERRY, Stephen Gregory→
director · ~72y · appointed 2007-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHARROCK, Martin→
director · ~62y · appointed 2007-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
UK COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-06-28 · resigned 2007-06-28
Resigned
UK INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2007-06-28 · resigned 2007-06-28
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
2026-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-03-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-07-10