AARDMAN FREE RANGE LIMITED

🏛️Establishedactive
10909377 · ltd · incorporated 2017-08-10
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Motion picture production activities
Sector: Information & communication
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 90030Artistic creation
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (61/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 5 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
15 connected companies via shared directors
90
Filing history
27 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-04-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-21
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2024-02-21
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  5. 2024-02-15
    ➕
    CAVE, Joanna Louise appointed
    director
  6. 2024-02-15
    ➖
    LOCK, Kerry Anthony resigned
    director
  7. 2024-01-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  8. 2024-01-12
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2024-01-01
    ➖
    LORD, Peter Duncan Fraser resigned
    director
  10. 2022-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-01-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-12-19
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2019-12-17
    ➕
    CLARKE, Sean Michael appointed
    director
  15. 2019-12-17
    ➕
    LOCK, Kerry Anthony appointed
    director
  16. 2019-12-17
    ➖
    SPROXTON, David Alan resigned
    director
  17. 2019-12-17
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  18. 2019-12-17
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  19. 2019-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  20. 2019-01-11
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  21. 2018-10-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  22. 2018-07-17
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  23. 2017-08-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AARDMAN FREE RANGE LIMITED
  24. 2017-08-10
    ➕
    LORD, Peter Duncan Fraser appointed
    director
  25. 2017-08-10
    ➕
    SPROXTON, David Alan appointed
    director

Owner dependency

66/100
High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

46/100
Moderate signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.

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

Aardman Animations Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Aardman Animations Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
⬇
AARDMAN FREE RANGE LIMITED
This company · 10909377

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
Aardman Animations Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting10/08/2017

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

6 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
Incorporated2017-08-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC59111 — Motion picture production activities

Registered office

Aardman Animations Ltd
Gas Ferry Road
Bristol
BS1 6UN
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-14
Last: 2025-12-31

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

CAVE, Joanna Louise→
director · ~50y · appointed 2024-02-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CLARKE, Sean Michael→
director · ~59y · appointed 2019-12-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LOCK, Kerry Anthony→
director · ~57y · appointed 2019-12-17 · resigned 2024-02-15
Resigned
LORD, Peter Duncan Fraser→
director · ~73y · appointed 2017-08-10 · resigned 2024-01-01
Resigned
SPROXTON, David Alan→
director · ~72y · appointed 2017-08-10 · resigned 2019-12-17
Resigned

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

Recent filings (27 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2025-06-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2024-04-10
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-02-21
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-02-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2024-01-14
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-01-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2022-11-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2021-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2021-01-12