AEMS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC329130 · ltd · incorporated 2007-08-13
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Solicitors
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 6.8y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 6.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
52 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£180k£360k£539k£719k£899kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets—£132.9k
Current assets—£898.9k
Net assets—£91.3k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-04
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2019-11-22
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  9. 2019-11-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Handelsbanken PLC
  10. 2019-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-07-30
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  12. 2019-07-25
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Handelsbanken PLC
  13. 2018-12-03
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2018-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2007-08-13
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AEMS LIMITED
  19. 2007-08-13
    ➕
    RAMSAY, Sandra appointed
    secretary
  20. 2007-08-13
    ➕
    MASTERTON, Alan Ellis appointed
    director
  21. 2007-08-13
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2007-08-13
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-secretary
  23. 2007-08-13
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-director
  24. 2007-08-13
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
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 69. 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 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alan Ellis Masterton
Individual · British · DOB 11/1957 · age 69
75–100%
—75-100% shares13/08/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · DD postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
FLINTSTONE TECHNOLOGY LIMITED→
SC419975 · est 2012
£8.97M
£6.61M–£11.33M
——1414y8366y
MARTIN ALAN HOLDINGS LIMITED→
SC308225 · est 2006
£1.97M
£1.45M–£2.49M
——5319y8869y
JTC FURNITURE GROUP LIMITED→
SC368612 · est 2009
£753.7k
£555.4k–£952.0k
——416y8264y
JAMES HUTTON LIMITED→
SC121376 · est 1989 · no financials extracted
————36y8372y
THE INSIGHTS GROUP LIMITED→
SC166543 · est 1996 · no financials extracted
————29y8386y
ATELIER-M LIMITED→
SC289842 · est 2005
———30020y8261y
BELLSHELF (NINETY EIGHT) LIMITED→
SC396803 · est 2011
——£37.2k—15y8264y
BELLSHELF (NINETY SEVEN) LIMITED→
SC271323 · est 2004
——£370.1k—21y8264y
DEEP TEK LIMITED→
SC191642 · est 1998
———20027y8268y
DOUGLAS J. MARTIN & CO. (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→
SC297521 · est 2006
——£35.1k—20y8270y
EVOTEK LIMITED→
SC270149 · est 2004
———10021y8259y
HIGHLAND FOOD GROUP LIMITED→
SC277996 · est 2005
———9821y8255y
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
Incorporated2007-08-13
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC69102 — Solicitors

Registered office

12-14 Maule Street
Monifieth
Angus
DD5 4JN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last: 2025-08-17

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

RAMSAY, Sandra→
secretary · appointed 2007-08-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MASTERTON, Alan Ellis→
director · ~69y · appointed 2007-08-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-08-13 · resigned 2007-08-13
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-director · appointed 2007-08-13 · resigned 2007-08-13
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Handelsbanken
Handelsbanken PLC
A registered charge1 property11/11/2019—
outstanding
Handelsbanken
Handelsbanken PLC
A registered charge—25/07/2019—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (52 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2019-12-04
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2019-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-01