ALISON MOTOR BODIES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
01047739 · ltd · incorporated 1972-03-28
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: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 59). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 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

2 live charges · oldest 40.3y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 40.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
8 officers (2 active, 8 linked, 5 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
101 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£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · IFRS
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees200200

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-11-15
    📄
    second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
    confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
  5. 2023-07-02
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  6. 2022-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-03-30
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-03-26
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-06-28
    ➖
    BRETT, Alan Sydney resigned
    director
  17. 2009-09-26
    ➕
    BRETT, Dean appointed
    director
  18. 2007-03-16
    ➕
    BRETT, Dean appointed
    secretary
  19. 2007-03-16
    ➖
    BRETT, Alan Sydney resigned
    secretary
  20. 2005-10-18
    ➖
    NEWSAM, Julia Catherine resigned
    director
  21. 2003-09-17
    ➖
    ALISON, William Benjamin Walter resigned
    secretary
  22. 2003-09-17
    ➕
    BRETT, Alan Sydney appointed
    secretary
  23. 2003-09-17
    ➖
    ALISON, William Benjamin Walter resigned
    director
  24. 1995-10-02
    ➕
    NEWSAM, Julia Catherine appointed
    director
  25. 1994-12-29
    ➖
    NEWSAM, Bernard resigned
    director
  26. 1986-02-21
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  27. 1986-02-21
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  28. 1972-03-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ALISON MOTOR BODIES LIMITED

Owner dependency

93/100
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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 54 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Dean Brett
Individual · British · DOB 11/1967 · age 59
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control06/04/2016
Dr John Alison
Individual · British · DOB 04/1966 · age 60
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting02/07/2023

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

Similar companies

Active · Automotive · NR postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
100-106 BER STREET NORWICH LIMITED→
15841683 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
1ST CLASS CARS LIMITED→
11433533 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
————7y——
A.P. VEHICLE SERVICES (EAST ANGLIA) LTD→
15594189 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————2y——
A&A MINI SPECIALIST LTD→
13315496 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
————5y——
AAA MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED→
11151902 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
————8y——
ACLE MOTOR COMPANY LTD→
15944080 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
ADVANCED REPAIR SOLUTIONS LTD→
11826363 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
————7y——
AGR AUTOS LTD→
09413865 · est 2015 · no financials extracted
————11y——
ALFASHOP LIMITED→
01673555 · est 1982 · no financials extracted
————43y——
ALLSTART DIESELS LTD→
10097038 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
————10y——
ALPHA 7 MOTORSPORT LTD→
14554358 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————3y——
ALPHA MOTORWORKS LTD→
14681189 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————3y——
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
Incorporated1972-03-28
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Acle New Road
Great Yarmouth
NR30 1SE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-22
Last: 2025-11-08

Officers (2 active · 6 resigned)

BRETT, Dean→
secretary · appointed 2007-03-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRETT, Dean→
director · ~59y · appointed 2009-09-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ALISON, William Benjamin Walter→
secretary · resigned 2003-09-17
Resigned
BRETT, Alan Sydney→
secretary · appointed 2003-09-17 · resigned 2007-03-16
Resigned
ALISON, William Benjamin Walter→
director · ~98y · resigned 2003-09-17
Resigned
BRETT, Alan Sydney→
director · ~85y · resigned 2014-06-28
Resigned
NEWSAM, Bernard→
director · ~113y · resigned 1994-12-29
Resigned
NEWSAM, Julia Catherine→
director · ~79y · appointed 1995-10-02 · resigned 2005-10-18
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
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property21/02/1986—
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage2 properties21/02/1986—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (101 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-11
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2023-11-15
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-07-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-06