CAR-FINANCE.NET LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04259645 · ltd · incorporated 2001-07-26

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Financial intermediation not elsewhere classified

Sector: Financial & insurance

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). 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: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

10 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

63 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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

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 · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Average employees	100	200

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 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 (28 events)Click to expand

2025-12-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-01-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-07-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-09-08
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-01-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2009-10-01
➖
TEW, James Gerard resigned
director
2007-02-01
➖
WILLIAMS, Mark resigned
director
2002-12-03
➕
BULLOUGH, Ian John appointed
secretary
2002-12-03
➕
BULLOUGH, Ian John appointed
director
2002-12-03
➖
WILLIAMS, Lorraine resigned
secretary
2002-12-03
➕
TEW, James Gerard appointed
director
2001-07-26
🏢
Company incorporated
As CAR-FINANCE.NET LIMITED
2001-07-26
➕
WILLIAMS, Lorraine appointed
secretary
2001-07-26
➕
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-07-26
➖
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-07-26
➕
WILLIAMS, Mark appointed
director
2001-07-26
➕
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2001-07-26
➖
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resigned
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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — 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 66. 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Ian John Bullough Individual · English · DOB 03/1960 · age 66	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	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 · Financial services · ST postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
DEACONSFIELD FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED→ 05223945 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
DEANS WEALTH MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 06654091 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	17y	—	—
DELTA CORPORATE RISK LIMITED→ 05678021 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
DJP CONSULTANCY LIMITED→ 06892889 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
DOST HOLDINGS LTD→ 16581772 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
DRAKESMITH INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ 13527943 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
DUNHAM MCCARTHY FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD→ 07987241 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
ELSBY ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ 11232168 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
EURO PROPERTY FINANCE LTD→ 15482177 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
EVANS AND LEWIS LTD.→ 07623795 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
EXCEL PENSIONS LIMITED→ 08924433 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
FACTOR TWO LIMITED→ 12619298 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—

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

Incorporated2001-07-26

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC64999 — Financial intermediation not elsewhere classified

Registered office

Genesis Centre Innovation Way

North Staffs Business Park

Stoke-On-Trent

Staffordshire

ST6 4BF

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-09

Last: 2025-07-26

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

BULLOUGH, Ian John→

secretary · appointed 2002-12-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BULLOUGH, Ian John→

director · ~66y · appointed 2002-12-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

WILLIAMS, Lorraine→

secretary · appointed 2001-07-26 · resigned 2002-12-03

Resigned

SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-07-26 · resigned 2001-07-26

Resigned

TEW, James Gerard→

director · ~61y · appointed 2002-12-03 · resigned 2009-10-01

Resigned

WILLIAMS, Mark→

director · ~61y · appointed 2001-07-26 · resigned 2007-02-01

Resigned

INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-07-26 · resigned 2001-07-26

Resigned

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