1ST CHOICE TRAVEL SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
02649897 · ltd · incorporated 1991-09-30
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Travel agency activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 75). 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).

Data confidence

Overall: high (84/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed
95
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 1 with DOB)
73
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
90 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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

3 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Aug 2023Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-312023-08-31

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-11-14
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2022-11-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2021-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-10-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2018-10-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-05-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-11-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2003-09-20
    ➕
    DAKING, Richard Anthony appointed
    secretary
  17. 2003-09-20
    ➖
    KASSAMALI, Mohamed Gulamabas resigned
    secretary
  18. 2003-09-20
    ➖
    SMITH, Jacqueline resigned
    secretary
  19. 2001-03-13
    ➕
    KASSAMALI, Mohamed Gulamabas appointed
    secretary
  20. 1991-09-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 1ST CHOICE TRAVEL SERVICES LIMITED
  21. 1991-09-30
    ➕
    SMITH, Peter Joseph Jonathan appointed
    director
  22. 1991-09-30
    ➕
    SMITH, Jacqueline appointed
    secretary
  23. 1991-09-30
    ➕
    PARAMOUNT COMPANY SEARCHES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1991-09-30
    ➖
    PARAMOUNT COMPANY SEARCHES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1991-09-30
    ➕
    PARAMOUNT PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 1991-09-30
    ➖
    PARAMOUNT PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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 35 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 35 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

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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Peter Joseph Jonathan Smith
Individual · British · DOB 01/1951 · age 75
——sig. influencesignificant influence · firm interest24/09/2016

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 →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated1991-09-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC79110 — Travel agency activities

Registered office

Nirvana Broomfield Road
Kingswood
Maidstone
ME17 3NZ
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-08
Last: 2025-09-24

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

DAKING, Richard Anthony→
secretary · appointed 2003-09-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Peter Joseph Jonathan→
director · ~75y · appointed 1991-09-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
KASSAMALI, Mohamed Gulamabas→
secretary · appointed 2001-03-13 · resigned 2003-09-20
Resigned
SMITH, Jacqueline→
secretary · appointed 1991-09-30 · resigned 2003-09-20
Resigned
PARAMOUNT COMPANY SEARCHES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1991-09-30 · resigned 1991-09-30
Resigned
PARAMOUNT PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1991-09-30 · resigned 1991-09-30
Resigned

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

Recent filings (90 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-05-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-11-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-11-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-24