AALTO FIRE LTD
Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. 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).
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 6.1y
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 6.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: high (81/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredKey financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsHover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-02-28 | 2024-02-29 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £69.7k | £114.9k |
| Debtors | £199.1k | £190.8k |
| Net assets | £405 | £10.8k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-02📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-04-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-28📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2023-03-28🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2023-03-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-07-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-31📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2020-03-27🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Skipton Business Finance Limited
- 2020-03-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-17📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2019-12-17📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2019-12-13➖CATTON, Paul David resigneddirector
- 2019-07-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-13📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2012-02-14🏢Company incorporatedAs AALTO FIRE LTD
- 2012-02-14➕O'BRIEN, James Joseph appointeddirector
- 2012-02-14➕CATTON, Paul David appointeddirector
Owner dependency
Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 14 years.
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanShareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr James Joseph O'Brien Individual · British · DOB 05/1978 · age 48 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Paul David Cattonceased 13/12/2019· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
See pricing →Similar companies
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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 →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
Registered office
Filing status
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Skipton Business Finance Skipton Business Finance Limited | A registered charge | 1 property | 27/03/2020 | 28/03/2023 |