A1 INSURANCE SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
02299204 · ltd · incorporated 1988-09-22
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-life insurance
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (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
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)
84
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
124 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees6600

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2024-07-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-08-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-08-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-04-11
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  11. 2018-04-11
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  12. 2018-04-11
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  13. 2018-04-11
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  14. 2018-04-11
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  15. 2018-04-11
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  16. 2018-04-11
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  17. 2018-04-11
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  18. 2016-07-01
    ➖
    BEARDMORE, Valerie resigned
    director
  19. 2005-01-04
    ➕
    DARNBROOK, Ian Robert appointed
    secretary
  20. 2005-01-04
    ➕
    DARNBROOK, Ian Robert appointed
    director
  21. 2005-01-04
    ➖
    JONES, Elizabeth resigned
    secretary
  22. 2005-01-04
    ➕
    BEARDMORE, Valerie appointed
    director
  23. 2005-01-04
    ➖
    JONES, Elizabeth resigned
    director
  24. 2005-01-04
    ➖
    JONES, George Melvyn resigned
    director
  25. 1995-03-31
    ➖
    AUDSLEY, Catherine Anne resigned
    director
  26. 1988-09-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A1 INSURANCE SERVICES LIMITED

Owner dependency

85/100
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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 38 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Ian Robert Darnbrook
Individual · British · DOB 04/1970 · age 56
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/07/2016

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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14906733 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
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07637323 · est 2011 · no financials extracted
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ANDERSON BROWN (WHITBY) LTD→
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ANOTHER LANE EN LIMITED→
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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
Incorporated1988-09-22
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC65120 — Non-life insurance

Registered office

Club Chambers
Museum Street
York
YO1 7DN
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-19
Last: 2025-11-05

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

DARNBROOK, Ian Robert→
secretary · appointed 2005-01-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DARNBROOK, Ian Robert→
director · ~56y · appointed 2005-01-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JONES, Elizabeth→
secretary · resigned 2005-01-04
Resigned
AUDSLEY, Catherine Anne→
director · ~73y · resigned 1995-03-31
Resigned
BEARDMORE, Valerie→
director · ~76y · appointed 2005-01-04 · resigned 2016-07-01
Resigned
JONES, Elizabeth→
director · ~82y · resigned 2005-01-04
Resigned
JONES, George Melvyn→
director · ~83y · resigned 2005-01-04
Resigned

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Recent filings (124 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-10
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-12-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-29