A1 MOTORCARE LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
03373091 · ltd · incorporated 1997-05-19
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 19.2y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
£249.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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 19.2y
65/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 19.2 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 (78/100)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 (3 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
80 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.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £249,593
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£77k
Net Worth
£250k
Current Assets
£129k
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-05-31 | 2024-05-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £316.7k | — |
| Current assets | £128.9k | — |
| Cash | £77.3k | — |
| Debtors | £12.0k | — |
| Net assets | £249.6k | — |
| Average employees | — | 600 |
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 (26 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-14📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2025-10-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-02-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-11📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-03-11📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-02-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-21📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2021-01-21📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-02-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-18📄accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AAMD
- 2019-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-02-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2007-03-02🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
- 1997-06-30➕BASSETT, Linda Michelle appointedsecretary
- 1997-06-30➕BASSETT, Linda Michelle appointeddirector
- 1997-06-30➖HINSON, Kenneth Jack resignedsecretary
- 1997-05-30➕BASSETT, Steven David appointeddirector
- 1997-05-30➕HINSON, Kenneth Jack appointedsecretary
- 1997-05-30➖SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1997-05-30➖INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
- 1997-05-19🏢Company incorporatedAs A1 MOTORCARE LIMITED
- 1997-05-19➕SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1997-05-19➕INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
91/100
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
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong 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.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Steven David Bassett Individual · British · DOB 02/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Automotive · CF postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1DRIVE MOTORS LTD→ 16835524 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1ST CHOICE ACCIDENT REPAIR CENTRE LIMITED→ 04363836 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| 1ST CLASS BODY REPAIRS LTD→ 10450029 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| 1ST STOP MOT CARDIFF LTD→ 11597146 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| 1ST STOP MOTOR GROUP LTD→ 16169429 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 3M TINTS LTD→ 16525466 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 969 LIMITED→ 12461346 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| A & D VEHICLE REPAIR CENTRE LIMITED→ 06160419 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| A B CAR SALES LIMITED→ 05013410 · est 2004 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| A&I CARS CARDIFF LTD→ 16181602 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AA CARS CARDIFF LTD→ 15308072 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AB PRESTIGE LIMITED→ 16954296 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated1997-05-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200
Registered office
23 The Grove
Rumney
Cardiff
CF3 3HG
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-30
Last: 2025-08-16
Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)
BASSETT, Linda Michelle→
Activesecretary · appointed 1997-06-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BASSETT, Linda Michelle→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 1997-06-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BASSETT, Steven David→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 1997-05-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HINSON, Kenneth Jack→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1997-05-30 · resigned 1997-06-30
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-05-19 · resigned 1997-05-30
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 1997-05-19 · resigned 1997-05-30
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC | Legal mortgage | 1 property | 02/03/2007 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (80 total)
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2025-11-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-13
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-03-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-24
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2021-01-21