A.E. LEE RECRUITMENT LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
07433062 · ltd · incorporated 2010-11-08
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 76-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 76). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (71/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
44 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

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-31
Average employees200

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-10
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  3. 2024-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-11-07
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  10. 2018-11-07
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2018-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-11-09
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2017-11-09
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  14. 2017-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2010-11-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A.E. LEE RECRUITMENT LIMITED
  17. 2010-11-08
    ➕
    LEE, Alan Douglas appointed
    secretary
  18. 2010-11-08
    ➕
    LEE, Alan Douglas appointed
    director
  19. 2010-11-08
    ➕
    LEE, Anne Elizabeth appointed
    director
  20. 2010-11-08
    ➕
    OAKLEY SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  21. 2010-11-08
    ➖
    OAKLEY SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary

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 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 76 — 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 76 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 16 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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 Alan Douglas Lee
Individual · British · DOB 04/1950 · age 76
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Anne Elizabeth Lee
Individual · British · DOB 10/1954 · age 72
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Alan Douglas Leeceased 26/10/2016· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • Mrs Anne Elizabeth Leeceased 26/10/2016· 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 →

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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
Incorporated2010-11-08
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

71 Friar Street
Droitwich
Worcestershire
WR9 8EQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-18
Last: 2025-11-04

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

LEE, Alan Douglas→
secretary · appointed 2010-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LEE, Alan Douglas→
director · ~76y · appointed 2010-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LEE, Anne Elizabeth→
director · ~72y · appointed 2010-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OAKLEY SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2010-11-08 · resigned 2010-11-08
Resigned

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

Recent filings (44 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-30
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-06-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-26