ALFRESCO HIRE LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
06858558 · ltd · incorporated 2009-03-25
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£-32.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
49 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £32,451
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£32k
↓ 117% YoY
Current Assets
£15k
↓ 27% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-04-30 | 2024-04-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £1.5k | £15.3k |
| Current assets | £14.9k | £20.3k |
| Net assets | £-32.5k | £-15.0k |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
- 2025-10-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-07-07📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2025-07-01➖LAWRENCE, Conor David Mickey resigneddirector
- 2025-01-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-10-10➕LAWRENCE, Conor David Mickey appointeddirector
- 2023-10-10📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-05📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-04-05📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-01-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-30📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-11-30📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2020-11-30📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2020-11-26➖SCHOLES, Toby Robert resigneddirector
- 2020-01-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-03-26📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2019-03-26📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2019-01-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2011-02-09➕SCHOLES, Toby Robert appointeddirector
- 2009-03-25🏢Company incorporatedAs ALFRESCO HIRE LIMITED
- 2009-03-25➕LAWRENCE, Simon David appointeddirector
Owner dependency
85/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
68/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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
cleanNo 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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Simon David Lawrence Individual · English · DOB 11/1972 · age 54 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Toby Robert Scholesceased 26/11/2020· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
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 →Similar companies
Active · Professional services · CO postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALBOLA INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ 07191884 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| ALPHA DESIGN AGENCY LTD→ 15282302 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ALS CONSULT LIMITED→ 07814984 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| AM53 LTD→ 16342687 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AMADEUS WHYTE LTD→ 11335569 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AMANDA LOY-ELLIS CONSULTING LIMITED→ 09784678 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| AMC ADVISORS LIMITED→ 07173859 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| AMEERA TALENT SOLUTIONS LTD→ 16202020 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AMLIS & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING LTD→ 16183335 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AMLIS SERVICES LIMITED→ 11223742 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AMM WATER MARINE ENGINEERING LIMITED→ 15065833 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AMPLIFY FINANCE LIMITED→ 13594610 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2009-03-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC77390 — Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods n.e.c.
Registered office
7 Davidson Close
Great Cornard
Sudbury
Suffolk
CO10 0YU
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-08
Last: 2026-03-25
Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)
LAWRENCE, Simon David→
Activedirector · ~54y · appointed 2009-03-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
LAWRENCE, Conor David Mickey→
Resigneddirector · ~29y · appointed 2023-10-10 · resigned 2025-07-01
SCHOLES, Toby Robert→
Resigneddirector · ~46y · appointed 2011-02-09 · resigned 2020-11-26
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (49 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-28
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-07-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-16
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-10-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-28
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-04-05
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-04-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-26