A1 SLOTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03232023 · ltd · incorporated 1996-07-31
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
£1.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale in non-specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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: medium (76/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
66 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,500
Net assets shrinking
Down £8,007 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£2k
↓ 84% YoY
Current Assets
£6k
↓ 50% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£2k£5k£7k£9k£11kJul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Total assets£2.1k£10.1k
Current assets£5.8k£11.5k
Net assets£1.5k£9.5k

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 (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-26
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2022-04-07
    ➖
    WARDLE, Julian John resigned
    director
  7. 2021-11-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-10-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-10-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-10-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-08-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-08-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 1996-08-01
    ➕
    WATSON, Robert John appointed
    secretary
  18. 1996-08-01
    ➕
    WATSON, Robert John appointed
    director
  19. 1996-08-01
    ➖
    SCALE LANE FORMATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 1996-08-01
    ➕
    WARDLE, Julian John appointed
    director
  21. 1996-08-01
    ➖
    SCALE LANE REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  22. 1996-07-31
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A1 SLOTS LIMITED
  23. 1996-07-31
    ➕
    SCALE LANE FORMATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1996-07-31
    ➕
    SCALE LANE REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    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 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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 Robert John Watson
Individual · British · DOB 01/1961 · age 65
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated1996-07-31
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47190 — Other retail sale in non-specialised stores

Registered office

38 Ellerker Rise
Willerby
Hull
HU10 6EY

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-14
Last: 2025-07-31

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

WATSON, Robert John→
secretary · appointed 1996-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WATSON, Robert John→
director · ~65y · appointed 1996-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SCALE LANE FORMATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-07-31 · resigned 1996-08-01
Resigned
WARDLE, Julian John→
director · ~76y · appointed 1996-08-01 · resigned 2022-04-07
Resigned
SCALE LANE REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1996-07-31 · resigned 1996-08-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (66 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-15
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-04-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-05