A.D. COACH SYSTEMS LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
02349028 · ltd · incorporated 1989-02-16
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
- · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Aug 2024
Net worth
£1.13M
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 78). 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
4 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 31.6y
15/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 31.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
- · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.
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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (4 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
92 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
85
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £1,134,654
Cash draining
Cash down 75% YoY
Cash YoY
-75%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£66k
↓ 75% YoY
Net Worth
£1.1m
↑ 19% YoY
Current Assets
£559k
↓ 16% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-08-31 | 2023-08-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £1.15M | £968.7k |
| Current assets | £559.0k | £667.2k |
| Cash | £65.8k | £261.7k |
| Debtors | £392.9k | £377.9k |
| Net assets | £1.13M | £957.2k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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 (26 events)Click to expand
- 2025-05-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2025-03-11📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2025-03-11🔒Charge registered #4Lender: Df Capital Bank Limited
- 2024-05-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-28📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2024-03-28🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2023-08-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-04📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2022-07-04📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2022-06-21➖DRAKEFORD, Alan Wilfred resigneddirector
- 2021-09-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-08-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2017-05-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-15📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2016-08-15🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2016-06-01📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2016-06-01📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2015-01-02🔒Charge registered #3Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2011-09-26🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Hurstwood Properties (A) Limited
- 2002-08-01➕ROGERS, Carolyn appointeddirector
- 2002-08-01➕WEATHERBY, Philip Andrew appointeddirector
- 1994-09-19🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 1989-02-16🏢Company incorporatedAs A.D. COACH SYSTEMS LIMITED
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
90/100
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 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 37 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
3 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Linda Mary Drakeford Individual · British · DOB 08/1948 · age 78 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/09/2016 |
Mrs Carolyn Rogers Individual · British · DOB 04/1969 · age 57 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/09/2016 |
Mr Philip Andrew Weatherby Individual · British · DOB 01/1961 · age 65 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/09/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Alan Wilfred Drakefordceased 11/04/2022· 25-50% shares
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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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
Incorporated1989-02-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200
Registered office
1 Prospect Way 1 Prospect Way
Knypersley
Stoke-On-Trent
ST8 7PL
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-14
Last: 2025-05-31
Officers (4 active · 1 resigned)
Active
Active
ROGERS, Carolyn→
Activedirector · ~57y · appointed 2002-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
WEATHERBY, Philip Andrew→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2002-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
DRAKEFORD, Alan Wilfred→
Resigneddirector · ~79y · resigned 2022-06-21
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
4
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Df Capital Bank Df Capital Bank Limited | A registered charge | — | 11/03/2025 | — | |
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 02/01/2015 | — | |
| satisfied | Hurstwood Properties (A) Hurstwood Properties (A) Limited | Rent deposit deed | 1 property | 26/09/2011 | 28/03/2024 | |
| satisfied | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Mortgage debenture | 1 property | 19/09/1994 | 15/08/2016 |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (92 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-05-28
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-03-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-05-31
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-08-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-04
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-07-04
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-07-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-09-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-08-27