AUTOTRACE LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
02194544 · ltd · incorporated 1987-11-16
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£-788
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 87). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
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
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
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
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £788
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£788
↑ 87% YoY
Current Assets
£14k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £6.3k | £-6.1k |
| Current assets | £14.1k | £14.0k |
| Cash | — | £11.5k |
| Debtors | — | £1.0k |
| Net assets | £-788 | £-6.1k |
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 (16 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-31📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2021-10-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-12-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-15📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2017-11-15📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2017-10-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-20📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-08-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 1987-11-16🏢Company incorporatedAs AUTOTRACE LIMITED
Owner dependency
73/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 87 — succession pressure is live.
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 87 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 39 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 Brian Joseph Lawrence Individual · British · DOB 08/1939 · age 87 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Roger Gilbert Payne Individual · British · DOB 05/1948 · age 78 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Automotive · SG postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4TUNE PERFORMANCE LTD→ 11482231 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| A & M MOTORCYCLES LTD→ 04970983 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| A A GARAGE LTD→ 14196547 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| A1 BN UK LIMITED→ 04980353 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| ANDREW JACKSON UK LIMITED→ 06864413 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| AUTO FANATICS LTD→ 14101932 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AUTO PERFORMANCE SERVICES LTD→ 14681789 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AUTOFIX (BUNTINGFORD) LIMITED→ 05759552 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| AUTOGRAPH VEHICLE SOLUTIONS LTD→ 07164272 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| AUTOKLASS LTD→ 14627747 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AUTOWELT LTD→ 15637075 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AUTOWISE TYRE AND AUTOCENTRES LIMITED→ 03080844 · est 1995 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 30y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1987-11-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200
Registered office
14a Meadway Court
Rutherford Close
Stevenage
Hertfordshire
SG1 2EF
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-16
Last: 2025-11-02
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
Active
Active
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (93 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-27
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-08-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-17