AIKEN ELSTON LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC455210 · ltd · incorporated 2013-07-24
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 Jul 2024
Net worth
£1.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 75). 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 (80/100)

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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
32 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 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,328

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£1k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£38k
↓ 5.1% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£8k£16k£24k£32k£40kJul 2023Jul 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-07-312023-07-31
Total assets£1.3k£1.3k
Current assets£37.8k£39.8k
Net assets£1.3k£1.3k

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
6
filings
  • • 2 gazette
  • • 1 miscellaneous
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-21
    📄
    legacy
    miscellaneous · RP01PSC01
  2. 2026-01-21
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  3. 2026-01-20
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  4. 2026-01-20
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2025-12-23
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  6. 2025-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2023-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-10-31
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2018-10-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2018-04-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-08-09
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  17. 2013-07-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AIKEN ELSTON LIMITED
  18. 2013-07-24
    ➕
    ELSTON, David Aiken appointed
    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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "ELSTON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — 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

88/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David Aiken Elston
Individual · British · DOB 08/1951 · age 75
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr David Elstonceased 06/04/2016· significant influence · trust interest

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
Incorporated2013-07-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

13 Queens Road
Aberdeen
AB15 4YL
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-16
Last: 2025-10-02

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

ELSTON, David Aiken→
director · ~75y · appointed 2013-07-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (32 total)

legacy
miscellaneous · RP01PSC01
2026-01-21
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2026-01-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-20
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-01-20
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-01-20
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-12-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-22