A1 FREIGHT LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
02585762 · ltd · incorporated 1991-02-26
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 Oct 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of head offices
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). 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: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 19.5y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 19.5 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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
91 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.
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 | 2025-10-31 | 2024-10-31 |
|---|
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
1
filing
- • 1 mortgage
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 mortgage
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 mortgage
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-20📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2026-05-20🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2025-11-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-05📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2022-11-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-11-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-11-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-02-27📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-11-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2015-02-26📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2011-03-08➖MERRISON, Harry James resigneddirector
- 2006-11-15🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 1999-02-01➕MERRISON, James Alistair Bruce appointeddirector
- 1999-02-01➖MERRISON, Sally Vivienne Yerburgh resigneddirector
- 1991-03-04➕MERRISON, Sally Vivienne Yerburgh appointedsecretary
- 1991-03-04➖WALL, James Cameron resignedsecretary
- 1991-03-04➖MCHATTON, Michael Terence resigneddirector
- 1991-03-04➕MERRISON, Sally Vivienne Yerburgh appointeddirector
- 1991-02-26🏢Company incorporatedAs A1 FREIGHT LIMITED
- 1991-02-26➕WALL, James Cameron appointedsecretary
- 1991-02-26➕MCHATTON, Michael Terence appointeddirector
Owner dependency
93/100
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
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
85/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 35 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
cleanNo 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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr James Alistair Bruce Merrison Individual · English · DOB 04/1964 · age 62 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 18/09/2016 |
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 · Professional services · SN postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 108 OKUS LIMITED→ 06665176 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| 1664 TRAINING SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 15382618 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 2095 CONSULTING LIMITED→ 16162792 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 2B TRADING LIMITED→ 13233036 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| 3RD CAREER LTD→ 16906066 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 DOTS TRAINING & ADVISORY LIMITED→ 12216437 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| 4XTRAHANDS LIMITED→ 04330559 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| 5 PART CONSULTING LIMITED→ 16981455 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 56.56 NORTH LTD→ 15124295 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| A C FITTON & CO LIMITED→ 02068730 · est 1986 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 39y | — | — |
| A1 PLANNING SERVICES LIMITED→ 03541135 · est 1998 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 28y | — | — |
| AB COACHING AND LEADERSHIP LIMITED→ 06277537 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1991-02-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC70100 — Activities of head offices
Registered office
Lacock Chapel The Wharf
Lacock
Chippenham
SN15 2PQ
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-04
Last: 2025-06-20
Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)
MERRISON, Sally Vivienne Yerburgh→
Activesecretary · appointed 1991-03-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
MERRISON, James Alistair Bruce→
Activedirector · ~62y · appointed 1999-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
WALL, James Cameron→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1991-02-26 · resigned 1991-03-04
MCHATTON, Michael Terence→
Resigneddirector · appointed 1991-02-26 · resigned 1991-03-04
MERRISON, Harry James→
Resigneddirector · ~91y · resigned 2011-03-08
MERRISON, Sally Vivienne Yerburgh→
Resigneddirector · ~90y · appointed 1991-03-04 · resigned 1999-02-01
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 15/11/2006 | 20/05/2026 |
Recent filings (91 total)
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2026-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-11-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-11-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-20
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-05-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-11-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-11-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-11-04