B.B VAN HIRE & SALES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03749692 · ltd · incorporated 1999-04-09
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45112
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 45200SIC 45200
  • 77110Renting and leasing of cars and light motor vehicles
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

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, 3 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
7 officers (1 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
78 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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£0Jul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Average employees500500

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

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 (31 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-02-28
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2023-02-28
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  7. 2023-02-14
    ➖
    SOPER, Paul resigned
    secretary
  8. 2023-02-14
    ➖
    SOPER, Paul resigned
    director
  9. 2022-10-19
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  10. 2022-10-19
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2022-10-19
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  12. 2022-10-19
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2022-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2022-06-06
    ➕
    BATTEN, Robert William appointed
    director
  15. 2022-06-06
    ➖
    BATTEN, William Melvyn resigned
    director
  16. 2021-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2020-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2020-04-29
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  19. 2020-04-29
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  20. 2019-09-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  21. 2019-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  22. 2001-12-01
    ➖
    COLE, Carol Jaqueline May resigned
    secretary
  23. 2001-12-01
    ➕
    SOPER, Paul appointed
    secretary
  24. 2001-12-01
    ➕
    SOPER, Paul appointed
    director
  25. 1999-04-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As B.B VAN HIRE & SALES LIMITED
  26. 1999-04-09
    ➕
    COLE, Carol Jaqueline May appointed
    secretary
  27. 1999-04-09
    ➕
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 1999-04-09
    ➖
    ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  29. 1999-04-09
    ➕
    BATTEN, William Melvyn appointed
    director
  30. 1999-04-09
    ➕
    AR NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  31. 1999-04-09
    ➖
    AR NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Robert William Batten
Individual · British · DOB 11/1982 · age 44
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/06/2022
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr William Melvyn Battenceased 06/06/2022· 75-100% shares

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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AVON GARAGE LTD→
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08831574 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
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14791458 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
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15966619 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
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15739233 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
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15430627 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————2y——
BRADLEY LANE MOT CENTRE LIMITED→
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BRIXHAM GARAGE LIMITED→
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————22y——
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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1999-04-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45112 — SIC 45112

Registered office

4 Cannon Road
Heathfield Industrial Estate
Newton Abbot
TQ12 6SG
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-02
Last: 2025-10-19

Officers (1 active · 6 resigned)

BATTEN, Robert William→
director · ~44y · appointed 2022-06-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COLE, Carol Jaqueline May→
secretary · appointed 1999-04-09 · resigned 2001-12-01
Resigned
SOPER, Paul→
secretary · appointed 2001-12-01 · resigned 2023-02-14
Resigned
ASHBURTON REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-04-09 · resigned 1999-04-09
Resigned
BATTEN, William Melvyn→
director · ~79y · appointed 1999-04-09 · resigned 2022-06-06
Resigned
SOPER, Paul→
director · ~52y · appointed 2001-12-01 · resigned 2023-02-14
Resigned
AR NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-04-09 · resigned 1999-04-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (78 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-27
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-02-28
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-19
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-10-19
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-10-19
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-10-19
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-10-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-28