APPLIED AUTOMATION LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
08418549 · ltd · incorporated 2013-02-25
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£1
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other manufacturing n.e.c.
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 68). 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 (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
33 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £1

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£1
Current Assets
£1
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£1£1£1Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£1
Current assets£1
Debtors£1
Net assets£1

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-05-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-02-26
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  9. 2019-02-26
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  10. 2019-02-26
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  11. 2018-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-05-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-04-12
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2016-04-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2013-02-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As APPLIED AUTOMATION LIMITED
  17. 2013-02-25
    ROWE, Valerie Anne appointed
    secretary
  18. 2013-02-25
    ROWE, David Harry appointed
    director

Owner dependency

95/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
  • 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.)

Group structure

Applied Automation (Uk) Ltd is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Applied Automation (Uk) Ltd
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
APPLIED AUTOMATION LIMITED
This company · 08418549

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Applied Automation (Uk) Ltd
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr David Harry Roweceased 06/04/2016· 25-50% shares
  • Mrs Valerie Anne Roweceased 06/04/2016· 25-50% shares

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

8 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
Incorporated2013-02-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32990 — Other manufacturing n.e.c.

Registered office

Concept House Eastern Wood Road, Langage Business Park
Plympton
Plymouth
PL7 5ET
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-11
Last: 2026-02-25

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

ROWE, Valerie Anne
secretary · appointed 2013-02-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ROWE, David Harry
director · ~68y · appointed 2013-02-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (33 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-10-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-02-26