A.E. WILCOX & SON LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
00487588 · ltd · incorporated 1950-10-24
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 48.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Sept 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Sale of new cars and light motor vehicles
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 4 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
4 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 48.3y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 48.3 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 (78/100)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
4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
95 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 | 2024-09-30 | 2023-09-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 1500 | 1800 |
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 (24 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-28📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2023-07-25📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-07-25📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-07-25📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-06-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-06-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-06-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-07-07📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2016-05-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-07-03📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-10-07➖WILCOX, Hilary resignedsecretary
- 2014-10-07➖WILCOX, Hilary resigneddirector
- 1999-01-24➖WILCOX, Roy Edward Mower resigneddirector
- 1992-10-28🔒Charge registered #4Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
- 1987-08-07🔒Charge registered #3Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
- 1978-02-10🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Lloyds Bank LTD
- 1978-02-10🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Lloyds Bank LTD
- 1950-10-24🏢Company incorporatedAs A.E. WILCOX & SON LIMITED
Owner dependency
96/100
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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "WILCOX" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
66/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 76 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Jonathan Roy Edward Wilcox Individual · British · DOB 08/1959 · age 67 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Timothy Paul Wilcox Individual · British · DOB 03/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| A LARGE HOLDINGS LTD→ 14484062 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| A.J.M SPARES LTD→ 13587317 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| A.M.S. FLEET MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 03852619 · est 1999 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 26y | — | — |
| A1 MOTOR SERVICES (STROUD) LTD→ 09490181 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated1950-10-24
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45111 — Sale of new cars and light motor vehicles
Registered office
The Garage,
Wickwar
Wotton-Under-Edge
Glos
GL12 8NG
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-28
Last: 2025-07-14
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
Active
Active
WILCOX, Hilary→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 2014-10-07
WILCOX, Hilary→
Resigneddirector · ~96y · resigned 2014-10-07
WILCOX, Roy Edward Mower→
Resigneddirector · ~99y · resigned 1999-01-24
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
4
Total charges
4
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Bank PLC | Mortgage | 1 property | 28/10/1992 | — | |
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Bank PLC | Legal charge | 1 property | 07/08/1987 | — | |
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Bank LTD | Legal mortgage | 2 properties | 10/02/1978 | — | |
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Bank LTD | Legal mortgage | 1 property | 10/02/1978 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (95 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-31
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2023-07-28
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-07-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-07-25
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-07-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-18