AINSWORTH & WOODCOCK ENGINEERING LTD

💤Zombieactive
10207332 · ltd · incorporated 2016-05-31
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
£70.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Machining
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 72/100 (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: 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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 5 total, 5 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
48 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
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 £70,862
Net assets shrinking
Down £54,462 YoY
Cash YoY
-4%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£64k
↓ 3.6% YoY
Net Worth
£71k
↓ 43% YoY
Current Assets
£272k
↑ 2.6% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£54k£109k£163k£217k£272kAug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Total assets£95.3k£166.4k
Current assets£271.8k£264.9k
Cash£63.6k£66.0k
Debtors£158.2k£148.9k
Net assets£70.9k£125.3k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-02-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-20
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  7. 2022-12-19
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  8. 2022-11-04
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  9. 2022-11-04
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  10. 2022-11-02
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  11. 2022-11-02
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  12. 2022-03-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2021-10-29
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2021-10-28
    ➖
    SHAKESPEARE, Chad resigned
    director
  15. 2021-05-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2020-02-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2019-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2018-06-27
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  19. 2018-06-12
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  20. 2018-04-23
    ➖
    SPENCER, Julie Ann resigned
    director
  21. 2016-05-31
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AINSWORTH & WOODCOCK ENGINEERING LTD
  22. 2016-05-31
    ➕
    GRIFFITHS, Neil Christopher appointed
    director
  23. 2016-05-31
    ➕
    SHAKESPEARE, Chad appointed
    director
  24. 2016-05-31
    ➕
    SPENCER, Julie Ann appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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
Mr Neil Christopher Griffiths
Individual · British · DOB 08/1971 · age 55
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control30/05/2017
4 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Ms Julie Ann Spencerceased 23/04/2018· 25-50% shares
  • Mr Neil Christopher Griffithsceased 23/04/2018· 50-75% voting
  • Ms Julie Ann Spencerceased 23/04/2018· 25-50% voting
  • Mr Neil Christopher Griffithsceased 23/04/2018· 50-75% 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

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
Incorporated2016-05-31
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25620 — Machining

Registered office

Talbot Road North
Talbot Road North
Wellingborough
NN8 1QS
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-14
Last: 2025-05-31

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

GRIFFITHS, Neil Christopher→
director · ~55y · appointed 2016-05-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHAKESPEARE, Chad→
director · ~52y · appointed 2016-05-31 · resigned 2021-10-28
Resigned
SPENCER, Julie Ann→
director · ~63y · appointed 2016-05-31 · resigned 2018-04-23
Resigned

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

Recent filings (48 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-05-21
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-08-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-31
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2022-12-20
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2022-12-19
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2022-11-04
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2022-11-04
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2022-11-02
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2022-11-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-31