A1 BAILIFF SERVICES LTD.

💤Zombieactive
04649846 · ltd · incorporated 2003-01-28
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£1.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of patent and copyright agents; other legal activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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: medium (75/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 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
61 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,410

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£1k
↑ 157% YoY
Current Assets
£14k
↓ 7.9% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£3k£6k£9k£12k£15kJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£935£984
Current assets£14.2k£15.5k
Net assets£1.4k£548

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-11-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-10-08
    ➖
    TAYLOR, Gillian resigned
    secretary
  8. 2020-10-08
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  9. 2020-05-19
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2019-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-08-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-03-31
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-03-10
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2003-02-04
    ➕
    TAYLOR, Richard Jason appointed
    director
  18. 2003-02-04
    ➕
    TAYLOR, Gillian appointed
    secretary
  19. 2003-02-04
    ➖
    CREDITREFORM (SECRETARIES) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 2003-02-04
    ➖
    CREDITREFORM LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  21. 2003-01-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A1 BAILIFF SERVICES LTD.
  22. 2003-01-28
    ➕
    CREDITREFORM (SECRETARIES) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2003-01-28
    ➕
    CREDITREFORM LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — 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 58. 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 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

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 Richard Taylor
Individual · British · DOB 06/1968 · age 58
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control06/04/2016
Mrs Gillian Taylor
Individual · British · DOB 09/1940 · age 86
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2003-01-28
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC69109 — Activities of patent and copyright agents; other legal activities

Registered office

18c Main Street
Bilton
Rugby
Warwickshire
CV22 7ND
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-11
Last: 2026-01-28

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

TAYLOR, Richard Jason→
director · ~58y · appointed 2003-02-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TAYLOR, Gillian→
secretary · appointed 2003-02-04 · resigned 2020-10-08
Resigned
CREDITREFORM (SECRETARIES) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-01-28 · resigned 2003-02-04
Resigned
CREDITREFORM LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-01-28 · resigned 2003-02-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (61 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-18
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2020-10-08
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-05-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-14