A L ENGINEERING & SONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
06817409 · ltd · incorporated 2009-02-12
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
£527.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. 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
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
36 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 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £527,330
Cash YoY
+22%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£581k
↑ 22% YoY
Net Worth
£527k
↑ 31% YoY
Current Assets
£842k
↑ 17% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£168k£337k£505k£674k£842kFeb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-02-282024-02-28
Total assets£527.3k£401.1k
Current assets£842.4k£721.2k
Cash£580.7k£474.4k
Debtors£249.2k£235.4k
Net assets£527.3k£401.1k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-10-02
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  4. 2024-10-01
    ➕
    LING, Jordan Scott appointed
    director
  5. 2023-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-03-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-03-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2009-02-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A L ENGINEERING & SONS LIMITED
  18. 2009-02-12
    ➕
    LING, Adrian Barry appointed
    secretary
  19. 2009-02-12
    ➕
    LING, Adrian Barry appointed
    director

Owner dependency

84/100
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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

29/100
Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — LING, Jordan Scott (same surname) appointed 2024-10-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • 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 Adrian Barry Ling
Individual · English · DOB 11/1962 · age 64
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

6 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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2009-02-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Store House Farm Hall Lane
Yaxley
Eye
Suffolk
IP23 8BY

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-26
Last: 2026-02-12

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

LING, Adrian Barry→
secretary · appointed 2009-02-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LING, Adrian Barry→
director · ~64y · appointed 2009-02-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LING, Jordan Scott→
director · ~36y · appointed 2024-10-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (36 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-11-30
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-10-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-11-30