ADVANCE FINANCE & LEASING LTD
💤Zombieactive
07499177 · ltd · incorporated 2011-01-19
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
£201.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Financial leasing
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -97% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (78/100)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 (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
45 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 · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £200,997
Net assets shrinking
Down £79,553 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 97% YoY
Cash YoY
-97%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£4k
↓ 97% YoY
Net Worth
£201k
↓ 28% YoY
Current Assets
£79k
↓ 65% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-09-30 | 2024-09-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £255.5k | £368.2k |
| Current assets | £79.5k | £225.9k |
| Cash | £4.2k | £138.9k |
| Debtors | £75.2k | £87.0k |
| Net assets | £201.0k | £280.6k |
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
4
filings
- • 3 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
5
filings
- • 3 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
5
filings
- • 3 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-13📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2026-05-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2026-04-27📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2026-04-27📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2025-06-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-27📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2024-10-27📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2024-10-22📄capital-cancellation-sharescapital · SH06
- 2024-06-12➖BIRCH, Stephen resigneddirector
- 2024-06-12📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2024-06-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-03-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-04-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2015-09-30➖MOLYNEUX, Michael resigneddirector
- 2011-01-19🏢Company incorporatedAs ADVANCE FINANCE & LEASING LTD
- 2011-01-19➕CARLIN, Paul appointeddirector
- 2011-01-19➕BIRCH, Stephen appointeddirector
- 2011-01-19➕MOLYNEUX, Michael appointeddirector
Owner dependency
93/100
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 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
78/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Paul Carlin Individual · British · DOB 11/1965 · age 61 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Stephen Birchceased 30/09/2024· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| ADESHIELD LIMITED→ 16886451 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AIMHUB LTD→ 09384091 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ALCHEMY CAPITAL GROUP LIMITED→ 16301030 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ALDERSGATE FUNDING LIMITED→ 12215736 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ALEXANDER HOUSE FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED→ 10647949 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ALEXANDER HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED→ 08350734 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| ALEXANDER HOUSE LTD→ 13508207 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ALL MONEY MATTERS LIMITED→ 08580309 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ALLIANCE FUNDING LIMITED→ 11574081 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2011-01-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64910 — Financial leasing
Registered office
406 Chadwick House Birchwood Park
Birchwood
Warrington
Cheshire
WA3 6AE
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-02
Last: 2026-01-19
Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)
CARLIN, Paul→
Activedirector · ~61y · appointed 2011-01-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BIRCH, Stephen→
Resigneddirector · ~72y · appointed 2011-01-19 · resigned 2024-06-12
MOLYNEUX, Michael→
Resigneddirector · ~67y · appointed 2011-01-19 · resigned 2015-09-30
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (45 total)
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-05-12
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-27
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-06-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-20
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-10-27
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-10-27
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2024-10-22
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-06-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-06-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-06-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-24