A & M GEARBOX SERVICES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

02933797 · ltd · incorporated 1994-05-27

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.

Opportunity decay

approaching window · 12-months

Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.

· Oldest live charge 28.1y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Dec 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 45200

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 28.1y

65/100

clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

· Oldest live charge is 28.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (69/100)

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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

13 officers (5 active, 13 linked, 10 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

97 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

83/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

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	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Average employees	7	700

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (39 events)Click to expand

2025-09-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-08-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-02-08
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2017-08-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-06-06
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-05-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-05
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2015-06-10
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-05-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-06-05
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-06-01
➕
RUFF, Allan Steven appointed
director
2012-06-01
➕
RUFF, Barry George appointed
director
2012-06-01
➕
RUFF, Thomas Henry appointed
director
2012-06-01
➕
STRINGER-RUFF, David William appointed
director
2012-06-01
➖
RUFF, Allan Charles resigned
director
2012-06-01
➖
RUFF, John Joseph resigned
director
2008-11-19
➖
RUFF, Shirley Mary resigned
secretary
2008-11-05
➖
LANGLEY, Colin Edward resigned
director
2007-08-31
➖
RUFF, Bernard George resigned
director
1998-04-23
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
1994-11-25
➕
RUFF, Mark Brian appointed
director
1994-11-25
➕
RUFF, Bernard George appointed
director
1994-11-25
➖
RUFF, Brian Henry resigned
director
1994-06-09
➕
RUFF, Shirley Mary appointed
secretary
1994-06-09
➖
WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1994-06-09
➕
LANGLEY, Colin Edward appointed
director
1994-06-09
➕
RUFF, Allan Charles appointed
director
1994-06-09
➕
RUFF, Brian Henry appointed
director
1994-06-09
➕
RUFF, John Joseph appointed
director
1994-06-09
➖
WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
1994-05-27
🏢
Company incorporated
As A & M GEARBOX SERVICES LIMITED
1994-05-27
➕
WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1994-05-27
➕
WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

66/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS

-5 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 32 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 32 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 32 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.)

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AJA MOTORS LTD→ 14569427 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
AJD TRAILERS LTD→ 16811071 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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

Incorporated1994-05-27

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Unit 2 Buckingham Court Dairy Road

Dukes Park I E Springfield

Chelmsford

Essex

CM2 6XW

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-10

Last: 2025-05-27

Officers (5 active · 8 resigned)

RUFF, Allan Steven→

director · ~56y · appointed 2012-06-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

RUFF, Barry George→

director · ~53y · appointed 2012-06-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

RUFF, Mark Brian→

director · ~59y · appointed 1994-11-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

RUFF, Thomas Henry→

director · ~49y · appointed 2012-06-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

STRINGER-RUFF, David William→

director · ~46y · appointed 2012-06-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

RUFF, Shirley Mary→

secretary · appointed 1994-06-09 · resigned 2008-11-19

Resigned

WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1994-05-27 · resigned 1994-06-09

Resigned

LANGLEY, Colin Edward→

director · ~82y · appointed 1994-06-09 · resigned 2008-11-05

Resigned

RUFF, Allan Charles→

director · ~76y · appointed 1994-06-09 · resigned 2012-06-01

Resigned

RUFF, Bernard George→

director · ~82y · appointed 1994-11-25 · resigned 2007-08-31

Resigned

RUFF, Brian Henry→

director · ~87y · appointed 1994-06-09 · resigned 1994-11-25

Resigned

RUFF, John Joseph→

director · ~79y · appointed 1994-06-09 · resigned 2012-06-01

Resigned

WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1994-05-27 · resigned 1994-06-09

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Barclays Barclays Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	23/04/1998	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.