C.A. STEVENS AND SONS (TRANSPORT) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
01348863 · ltd · incorporated 1978-01-19
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
£1.64M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 49410Freight transport by road
  • 96090Other service activities n.e.c.
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). 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 46.4y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 46.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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

Company profile
address, 3 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
9 officers (2 active, 9 linked, 5 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
124 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,640,756
Net assets shrinking
Down £30,772 YoY
Cash YoY
-20%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£537k
↓ 20% YoY
Net Worth
£1.6m
↓ 1.8% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£334k£669k£1.0m£1.3m£1.7mMar 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—£2.45M
Current assets—£1.51M
Cash£536.5k£667.1k
Debtors—£774.9k
Net assets£1.64M£1.67M

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 (33 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-01-10
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2024-11-13
    ➖
    STEVENS, Clifford Alan resigned
    director
  5. 2024-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-07-05
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2023-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-08-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-07-12
    📄
    capital-name-of-class-of-shares
    capital · SH08
  11. 2021-04-29
    📄
    statement-of-companys-objects
    change-of-constitution · CC04
  12. 2021-04-29
    📄
    capital-name-of-class-of-shares
    capital · SH08
  13. 2021-04-29
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  14. 2021-04-29
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  15. 2020-08-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2019-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2018-05-18
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  19. 2018-05-04
    ➕
    STEVENS, Clifford Grahame appointed
    secretary
  20. 2018-05-04
    ➖
    STEVENS, Patrick Alan resigned
    secretary
  21. 2018-05-04
    ➖
    STEVENS, Patrick Alan resigned
    director
  22. 2017-03-03
    ➖
    COCHRANE, Jean Veronica Winifred resigned
    director
  23. 1999-04-23
    ➖
    HASSALL, Jayne Anne resigned
    secretary
  24. 1999-04-23
    ➕
    STEVENS, Patrick Alan appointed
    secretary
  25. 1999-04-23
    ➖
    HYDE, Nicholas resigned
    director
  26. 1998-07-10
    ➕
    HYDE, Nicholas appointed
    director
  27. 1995-11-08
    ➕
    HASSALL, Jayne Anne appointed
    secretary
  28. 1995-11-07
    ➕
    STEVENS, Clifford Grahame appointed
    director
  29. 1995-11-07
    ➖
    COCHRANE, Jean Veronica Winifred resigned
    secretary
  30. 1995-11-07
    ➕
    STEVENS, Patrick Alan appointed
    director
  31. 1991-07-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  32. 1979-12-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  33. 1978-01-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As C.A. STEVENS AND SONS (TRANSPORT) LIMITED

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 "STEVENS" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
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 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 48 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Clifford Alan Stevens
Individual · British · DOB 07/1933 · age 93
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control06/04/2016

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
Incorporated1978-01-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade

Registered office

Stockbridge Road
Grateley
Andover
Hampshire
SP11 7EF

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-08
Last: 2025-09-24

Officers (2 active · 7 resigned)

STEVENS, Clifford Grahame→
secretary · appointed 2018-05-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STEVENS, Clifford Grahame→
director · ~68y · appointed 1995-11-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COCHRANE, Jean Veronica Winifred→
secretary · resigned 1995-11-07
Resigned
HASSALL, Jayne Anne→
secretary · appointed 1995-11-08 · resigned 1999-04-23
Resigned
STEVENS, Patrick Alan→
secretary · appointed 1999-04-23 · resigned 2018-05-04
Resigned
COCHRANE, Jean Veronica Winifred→
director · ~102y · resigned 2017-03-03
Resigned
HYDE, Nicholas→
director · ~69y · appointed 1998-07-10 · resigned 1999-04-23
Resigned
STEVENS, Clifford Alan→
director · ~93y · resigned 2024-11-13
Resigned
STEVENS, Patrick Alan→
director · ~66y · appointed 1995-11-07 · resigned 2018-05-04
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
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property01/07/1991—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Debenture1 property17/12/1979—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (124 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-08-13
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-25
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-07-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-19
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2021-07-12
statement-of-companys-objects
change-of-constitution · CC04
2021-04-29