ARMISTEAD EUROPEAN TRANSPORT LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04626511 · ltd · incorporated 2002-12-31
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£1.49M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Freight transport by road
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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 (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 15.8y
30/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 15.8 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
59 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 102Positive net assets
Net assets £1,494,898
Cash YoY
+30%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£254k
↑ 30% YoY
Net Worth
£1.5m
↑ 17% YoY
Current Assets
£714k
↑ 7.5% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £2.11M | £1.92M |
| Current assets | £714.3k | £664.6k |
| Cash | £254.3k | £196.2k |
| Debtors | £458.5k | £466.9k |
| Net assets | £1.49M | £1.28M |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-08-28📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-08-28📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2024-06-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-10-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-01-05📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-06-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-01-05📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2012-05-21🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Rbs Invoice Finance Limited
- 2010-08-10🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2002-12-31🏢Company incorporatedAs ARMISTEAD EUROPEAN TRANSPORT LIMITED
- 2002-12-31➕ARMISTEAD, Maxine Jane appointedsecretary
- 2002-12-31➕ARMISTEAD, Andrew Thomas appointeddirector
- 2002-12-31➕YORK PLACE COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-12-31➖YORK PLACE COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-12-31➕YORK PLACE COMPANY NOMINEES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2002-12-31➖YORK PLACE COMPANY NOMINEES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
100/100
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.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "ARMISTEAD" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — 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 64. 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Andrew Thomas Armistead Individual · British · DOB 11/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 07/04/2016 |
Mrs Maxine Jane Armistead Individual · British · DOB 03/1965 · age 61 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| BCA VEHICLE DELIVERIES LIMITED→ 10477190 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
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| BIBBY'S OF INGLETON LIMITED→ 02606845 · est 1991 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 34y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2002-12-31
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road
Registered office
Dale Grove Farm
Tewitfield
Carnforth
Lancashire
LA6 1JJ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-03
Last: 2025-06-19
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
ARMISTEAD, Maxine Jane→
Activesecretary · appointed 2002-12-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ARMISTEAD, Andrew Thomas→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2002-12-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
YORK PLACE COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-12-31 · resigned 2002-12-31
YORK PLACE COMPANY NOMINEES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-12-31 · resigned 2002-12-31
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | NatWest Group Rbs Invoice Finance Limited | All assets debenture | 1 property | 21/05/2012 | — | |
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 10/08/2010 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (59 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-08-28
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-08-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-02