ARIEL FLIGHT SERVICES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
06442371 · ltd · incorporated 2007-11-30
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.
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 Dec 2025
Net worth
£3.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
81/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 52230
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 75). 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
4 officers (4 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
44 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
81/100Exceptional
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
85
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 £3,489
Net assets shrinking
Down £2,170 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£3k
↓ 38% YoY
Current Assets
£11k
↓ 26% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£3k£6k£9k£12k£15kDec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Total assets£5.1k£7.3k
Current assets£11.2k£15.1k
Net assets£3.5k£5.7k

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 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-06-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-01
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  6. 2022-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-06-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-06-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2019-06-14
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  11. 2019-04-06
    ➕
    MCLOUGHLIN, Karen appointed
    director
  12. 2019-03-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-03-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-04-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-12-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2008-04-06
    ➕
    AVERY, Ian Paul appointed
    director
  18. 2007-11-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARIEL FLIGHT SERVICES LIMITED
  19. 2007-11-30
    ➕
    ROBSON-SMITH, Anne Elizabeth appointed
    secretary
  20. 2007-11-30
    ➕
    ROBSON-SMITH, Christopher appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

83/100
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 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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
Mr Christopher Robson-Smith
Individual · British · DOB 06/1951 · age 75
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2007-11-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC52230 — SIC 52230

Registered office

6 Mulberry Rise, Firdale Park
Northwich
Cheshire
CW8 4UQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-05
Last: 2025-10-22

Officers (4 active · 0 resigned)

ROBSON-SMITH, Anne Elizabeth→
secretary · appointed 2007-11-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
AVERY, Ian Paul→
director · ~69y · appointed 2008-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCLOUGHLIN, Karen→
director · ~63y · appointed 2019-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ROBSON-SMITH, Christopher→
director · ~75y · appointed 2007-11-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (44 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-06-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-22
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2022-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-18