A.F.S. FIRE SERVICES LTD

💤Zombieactive
07523324 · ltd · incorporated 2011-02-09
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
£14.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
39 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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £14,643
Net assets shrinking
Down £1,639 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£15k
↓ 10% YoY
Current Assets
£21k
↓ 44% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£8k£15k£23k£30k£38kFeb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-02-282024-02-29
Total assets£14.6k£35.9k
Current assets£21.1k£37.9k
Net assets£14.6k£16.3k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
1
filing
  • • 1 gazette
Last 90 days
3
filings
  • • 2 gazette
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 2 gazette
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-06-30
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  2. 2026-05-26
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  3. 2025-11-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-04-30
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  5. 2025-04-29
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  6. 2024-08-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-05-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-06-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-11-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-11-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-10-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-02-15
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2011-02-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A.F.S. FIRE SERVICES LTD
  17. 2011-02-09
    ➕
    TODD, Matthew appointed
    director

Owner dependency

90/100
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
  • +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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 15 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple 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 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

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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Matthew Todd
Individual · British · DOB 11/1970 · age 56
75–100%
—75-100% shares02/01/2017

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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.

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2011-02-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Unit 5 Dales Court
Dales Road
Ipswich
IP1 4JR

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-23
Last: 2026-02-09

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

TODD, Matthew→
director · ~56y · appointed 2011-02-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (39 total)

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2026-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-10
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2026-05-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-12
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-29
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-22