CHIPPING SODBURY CARAVANS LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
02121957 · ltd · incorporated 1987-04-10
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Oct 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45190
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 45200SIC 45200
- 47789Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 83-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 83). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
3 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 18.1y
35/100
too messy
Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.
- · Oldest live charge is 18.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
- · 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, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
109 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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
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 | 2024-10-31 | 2023-10-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 1700 | 1700 |
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 (23 events)Click to expand
- 2025-03-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-07-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-02-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-01-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-01-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-05-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-02-09📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2016-02-09🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2016-01-20📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-06-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-05-22📄capital-alter-shares-subdivisioncapital · SH02
- 2015-05-08📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2014-04-23🔒Charge registered #3Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
- 2014-01-17➖PICKFORD, Michael Frederick resigneddirector
- 2012-02-17🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2011-09-01🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
- 2008-06-13🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2006-06-01➕PICKFORD, James Michael appointeddirector
- 1987-04-10🏢Company incorporatedAs CHIPPING SODBURY CARAVANS LIMITED
Owner dependency
91/100
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.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 83 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
96/100
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 83 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 39 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
1 med ·Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
mediumMultiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Mary Louise Pickford Individual · British · DOB 09/1943 · age 83 | — | — | sig. influencesignificant influence | 01/07/2016 |
Mr James Michael Pickford Individual · British · DOB 07/1973 · age 53 | — | — | sig. influencesignificant influence | 01/07/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| CHALKY AUTO CENTER LTD→ 16198584 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CHRISTIAN AUTOS LTD→ 05676363 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| CHUKSTORIA GLOBAL LTD→ 16949538 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CHYKESTALLION LOGISTICS LTD→ 17031695 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated1987-04-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45190 — SIC 45190
Registered office
Chipping Sodbury Caravans
Badminton Road
Chipping Sodbury
S Glos
BS37 6LH
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-14
Last: 2025-12-31
Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)
Active
PICKFORD, James Michael→
Activedirector · ~53y · appointed 2006-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PICKFORD, Michael Frederick→
Resigneddirector · ~86y · resigned 2014-01-17
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
3
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Bank PLC | A registered charge | — | 23/04/2014 | — | |
| satisfied | HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 01/09/2011 | 09/02/2016 | |
| satisfied | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 13/06/2008 | 17/02/2012 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (109 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-01-15