AKL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

08699350 · ltd · incorporated 2013-09-20

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 Dec 2025

Net worth

£302.1k

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Research and experimental development on biotechnology

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 79). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -99% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

6 officers (5 active, 6 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared

Director network

8 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

67 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £302,104

Net assets shrinking

Down £1,274,539 YoY

Cash draining

Cash down 99% YoY

Cash YoY

-99%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£11k

↓ 99% YoY

Net Worth

£302k

↓ 81% YoY

Current Assets

£381k

↓ 76% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-12-31	2024-12-31
Total assets	£302.1k	£1.58M
Current assets	£381.3k	£1.59M
Cash	£11.4k	£1.29M
Debtors	£370.0k	£304.5k
Net assets	£302.1k	£1.58M

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

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand

2026-06-25
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-06-25
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-06-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-28
➖
LARKINS, Nicholas John, Dr resigned
director
2026-01-21
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2025-12-15
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2025-11-02
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2025-11-02
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-11-02
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-18
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-03-18
📄
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2024-01-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-10
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2023-10-23
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2023-09-21
📄
second-filing-capital-allotment-shares
capital · RP04SH01
2023-09-18
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2023-09-18
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2023-09-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-25
➕
MARTIN, Michael appointed
director
2018-02-27
➕
REYNOLDS, Alan Vaughan appointed
director
2015-05-12
➕
MILES, David Keith appointed
director
2015-05-12
➕
LARKINS, Nicholas John, Dr appointed
director
2013-09-20
🏢
Company incorporated
As AKL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT LIMITED
2013-09-20
➕
SHARPLES, David Richard appointed
secretary
2013-09-20
➕
SHARPLES, David Richard appointed
director

Owner dependency

55/100

Moderate — manageable with handover

Some founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.

FACTORS

-4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

73/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
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.)

Shareholders & ownership

3 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr David Richard Sharples Individual · British · DOB 04/1955 · age 71	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	10/09/2016
Dr Nicholas John Larkins Individual · Australian · DOB 07/1947 · age 79	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	12/05/2016
Mr David Keith Miles Individual · British · DOB 07/1955 · age 71	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	12/05/2016

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.

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ALINA MATIULLAH JAN LTD→ 16272484 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ALISON ABRAMS LTD→ 11692611 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
ALISON LAW B LIMITED→ 15806020 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2013-09-20

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC72110 — Research and experimental development on biotechnology

Registered office

The Lexicon Second Floor

Mount Street

Manchester

M2 5NT

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-09-30

Last made up to: 2025-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-18

Last: 2025-12-04