A & K EXPRESS TRANSPORT LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04319731 · ltd · incorporated 2001-11-08
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 Nov 2024
Net worth
£-48.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Freight transport by road
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -31% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 24.5y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 24.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (77/100)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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
58 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 · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £48,068
Cash YoY
-31%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£633
↓ 31% YoY
Net Worth
-£48k
↓ 3.3% YoY
Current Assets
£633
↓ 31% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-11-30 | 2023-11-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-48.1k | £-46.5k |
| Current assets | £633 | £918 |
| Cash | £633 | £918 |
| Net assets | £-48.1k | £-46.5k |
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 (23 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-05📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-08-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-11-21📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-08-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2013-10-25📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2001-12-18🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
- 2001-11-08🏢Company incorporatedAs A & K EXPRESS TRANSPORT LIMITED
- 2001-11-08➕STALLWORTHY, Deborah appointedsecretary
- 2001-11-08➕STALLWORTHY, Alan appointeddirector
- 2001-11-08➕GRAEME, Dorothy May appointednominee-secretary
- 2001-11-08➖GRAEME, Dorothy May resignednominee-secretary
- 2001-11-08➕GRAEME, Lesley Joyce appointednominee-director
- 2001-11-08➖GRAEME, Lesley Joyce resignednominee-director
Owner dependency
93/100
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
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
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 63. 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 25 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
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 Alan Stallworthy Individual · English · DOB 07/1963 · age 63 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 25/10/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| ABBEY CAB SERVICES LIMITED→ 10988889 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ABRAXAS MARITIME LTD→ 06260229 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2001-11-08
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road
Registered office
Elenore
Shrubcote
Tenterden
Kent
TN30 7BN
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-08
Last: 2025-10-25
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
STALLWORTHY, Deborah→
Activesecretary · appointed 2001-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
STALLWORTHY, Alan→
Activedirector · ~63y · appointed 2001-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
GRAEME, Dorothy May→
Resignednominee-secretary · appointed 2001-11-08 · resigned 2001-11-08
GRAEME, Lesley Joyce→
Resignednominee-director · ~73y · appointed 2001-11-08 · resigned 2001-11-08
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 | Debenture | 1 property | 18/12/2001 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (58 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-10-25