ARDEN MOTORSPORT LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03146450 · ltd · incorporated 1996-01-15
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
79/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other sports activities
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 80). 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 21.8y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 21.8 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
9 officers (1 active, 9 linked, 4 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
90 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 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 employees800800

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (36 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-05
    ➖
    DENT, Richard resigned
    director
  4. 2024-04-05
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  5. 2024-02-26
    ➖
    HORNER, Jamie Grainger resigned
    director
  6. 2024-02-26
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2023-06-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-08-25
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2022-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-12-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2021-12-16
    ➖
    DYSON, Sally Elizabeth resigned
    secretary
  12. 2021-12-16
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  13. 2021-07-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2020-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2020-03-24
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  16. 2020-03-24
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  17. 2020-03-23
    ➕
    DENT, Richard appointed
    director
  18. 2020-03-23
    ➕
    HORNER, Jamie Grainger appointed
    director
  19. 2019-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2018-09-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  21. 2017-09-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  22. 2015-12-23
    ➕
    DYSON, Sally Elizabeth appointed
    secretary
  23. 2015-12-23
    ➖
    LEONARD, Karen resigned
    secretary
  24. 2015-01-26
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  25. 2012-01-15
    ➖
    HORNER, Christian resigned
    director
  26. 2011-11-08
    ➕
    HORNER, Garry Michael appointed
    director
  27. 2006-12-31
    ➖
    HORNER, Garry Michael resigned
    secretary
  28. 2006-12-31
    ➕
    LEONARD, Karen appointed
    secretary
  29. 2004-09-14
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Coutts & Company
  30. 1996-01-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARDEN MOTORSPORT LIMITED
  31. 1996-01-15
    ➕
    HORNER, Garry Michael appointed
    secretary
  32. 1996-01-15
    ➕
    BRISTOL LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  33. 1996-01-15
    ➖
    BRISTOL LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  34. 1996-01-15
    ➕
    HORNER, Christian appointed
    director
  35. 1996-01-15
    ➕
    BOURSE SECURITIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  36. 1996-01-15
    ➖
    BOURSE SECURITIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

90/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

98/100
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 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 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 Garry Michael Horner
Individual · British · DOB 04/1946 · age 80
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016

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
Incorporated1996-01-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC93199 — Other sports activities

Registered office

3b Thorpe Way
Banbury
OX16 4SP
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-02
Last: 2025-09-18

Officers (1 active · 8 resigned)

HORNER, Garry Michael→
director · ~80y · appointed 2011-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DYSON, Sally Elizabeth→
secretary · appointed 2015-12-23 · resigned 2021-12-16
Resigned
HORNER, Garry Michael→
secretary · appointed 1996-01-15 · resigned 2006-12-31
Resigned
LEONARD, Karen→
secretary · appointed 2006-12-31 · resigned 2015-12-23
Resigned
BRISTOL LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-01-15 · resigned 1996-01-15
Resigned
DENT, Richard→
director · ~56y · appointed 2020-03-23 · resigned 2024-04-05
Resigned
HORNER, Christian→
director · ~53y · appointed 1996-01-15 · resigned 2012-01-15
Resigned
HORNER, Jamie Grainger→
director · ~56y · appointed 2020-03-23 · resigned 2024-02-26
Resigned
BOURSE SECURITIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1996-01-15 · resigned 1996-01-15
Resigned

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
TypeProperties
satisfied
NatWest Group
Coutts & Company
Debenture1 property14/09/200426/01/2015

Recent filings (90 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-22
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-04-05
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-20
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-16
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2021-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-16