AUTO DISCOUNT LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
00276670 · ltd · incorporated 1933-06-08
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 57.1y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Retail trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 81-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 81). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 57.1y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 57.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (77/100)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
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
93 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 500 | 400 |
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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-19📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2024-04-19🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2023-09-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-10-21📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-10-21📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2022-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-05-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-04-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-05📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-06-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 1998-09-14🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
- 1969-06-24🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 1933-06-08🏢Company incorporatedAs AUTO DISCOUNT LIMITED
Owner dependency
81/100
Critical — business is the founderThe business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 81 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
76/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 81 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 93 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
Red flags
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Wilhelmina Anna Walton Individual · British · DOB 04/1950 · age 76 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 20/10/2022 |
Mr John Richard Walton Individual · British · DOB 11/1945 · age 81 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Automotive · HG postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APEX PERFORMANCE PARTS LIMITED→ 04554789 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| BATCHELORS OF YORK LIMITED→ 10781656 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| BAXTERS GARAGE LIMITED→ 04855858 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| BEAUMONT VEHICLE SOLUTIONS LTD→ 14138118 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BRIDGESIDE GARAGE LIMITED→ 07080459 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| CANAL GARAGE (BOROUGHBRIDGE) LIMITED→ 04767653 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| CAR BUYERS DIRECT LTD→ 16181004 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CAR IMPORT SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 14401032 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| CARDALE AUTOMOTIVE LTD→ 15080062 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| CARLINGO LTD→ 08051030 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| CARMASTER (UK) LIMITED→ 06305122 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| CENTRAL GARAGE (HARROGATE) LIMITED→ 11092783 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1933-06-08
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45320 — Retail trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories
Registered office
19/20 Regent Parade
Harrogate
HG1 5AW
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-29
Last: 2025-10-15
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
Active
Active
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Bank PLC | Mortgage | 1 property | 14/09/1998 | 19/04/2024 | |
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Legal charge | 1 property | 24/06/1969 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (93 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-03
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-21
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-10-21
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-11