ACE MOTORCYCLE TRAINING (DURHAM) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04331816 · ltd · incorporated 2001-11-30
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
£84.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45400
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 8.7y

30/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 8.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
69 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 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £84,759
Cash YoY
+178%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£814
↑ 178% YoY
Net Worth
£85k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£79k
↑ 45% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£17k£34k£51k£68k£85kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£376.2k£376.7k
Current assets£79.1k£54.6k
Cash£814£293
Debtors£7.2k£4.9k
Net assets£84.8k£84.5k

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-07-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-07-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  5. 2023-06-29
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Together Commercial Finance Limited
  6. 2022-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-02-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-04-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-12-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2020-05-13
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  11. 2020-05-13
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  12. 2019-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-12-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2018-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-12-06
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  17. 2017-12-06
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  18. 2017-09-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Just Cash Flow PLC
  19. 2001-12-20
    RIMMER, Helen Marie appointed
    secretary
  20. 2001-12-20
    RIMMER, William James appointed
    director
  21. 2001-12-20
    PF & S (SECRETARIES) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2001-12-20
    PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  23. 2001-11-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACE MOTORCYCLE TRAINING (DURHAM) LIMITED
  24. 2001-11-30
    PF & S (SECRETARIES) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  25. 2001-11-30
    PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr William James Rimmer
Individual · British · DOB 11/1966 · age 60
5075%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control30/11/2016
Mrs Helen Rimmer
Individual · British · DOB 01/1979 · age 47
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting30/11/2016

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

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
Incorporated2001-11-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45400 — SIC 45400

Registered office

Unit D Gowan House
Mandale Business Park
Durham
DH1 1TH
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-16
Last: 2026-02-02

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

RIMMER, Helen Marie
secretary · appointed 2001-12-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RIMMER, William James
director · ~60y · appointed 2001-12-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PF & S (SECRETARIES) LIMITED
corporate-secretary · appointed 2001-11-30 · resigned 2001-12-20
Resigned
PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED
corporate-director · appointed 2001-11-30 · resigned 2001-12-20
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Together Money
Together Commercial Finance Limited
A registered charge1 property29/06/2023
satisfied
Just Cash Flow
Just Cash Flow PLC
A registered charge19/09/201713/05/2020
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (69 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-06
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2023-07-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-12-10