AUTO-BODYCARE SERVICE CENTRE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

04654881 · ltd · incorporated 2003-02-03

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

Opportunity decay

approaching window · 12-months

Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.

· Oldest live charge 16.1y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

£-54.5k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 45200

Sector: Wholesale & retail

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 (63/100, director aged 75). 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 (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 16.1y

65/100

clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

· Oldest live charge is 16.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

6 officers (4 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

67 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £54,524

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

-£55k

↓ 8.0% YoY

Current Assets

£14k

↑ 302% YoY

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
Total assets	£-38.7k	£-33.5k
Current assets	£13.9k	£3.4k
Cash	—	£85
Debtors	£8.1k	£36
Net assets	£-54.5k	£-50.5k

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 (26 events)Click to expand

2025-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-01-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-12-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-07
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-06-07
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-06-07
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-06-07
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2019-06-07
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2019-06-07
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2018-12-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-10-01
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2017-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-04-12
➕
THORNTON, Dionne appointed
director
2016-04-12
➕
THORNTON, Russell appointed
director
2010-05-20
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
2003-02-05
➕
THORNTON, Deborah Patricia appointed
secretary
2003-02-05
➕
THORNTON, Barry Victor appointed
director
2003-02-05
➖
STARTCO LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2003-02-05
➖
NEWCO LIMITED resigned
corporate-director
2003-02-03
🏢
Company incorporated
As AUTO-BODYCARE SERVICE CENTRE LIMITED
2003-02-03
➕
STARTCO LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2003-02-03
➕
NEWCO LIMITED appointed
corporate-director

Owner dependency

83/100

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

+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
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

3 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Barry Victor Thornton Individual · British · DOB 04/1951 · age 75	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	01/07/2016
Ms Dionne Thornton Individual · British · DOB 01/1981 · age 45	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	01/07/2016
Mr Russell Thornton Individual · British · DOB 05/1984 · age 42	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	01/07/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Automotive · BN postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
AB DRIVE SOLUTION LIMITED→ 16446726 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ALLSTAR COMMERCIALS LIMITED→ 13214453 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
AMBER GARAGE LIMITED→ 08831519 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
AP AUTOMOTIVE SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ 15507589 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ARKHAM AUTO FILMS LIMITED→ 17100271 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ARUN FORKTRUCKS LIMITED→ 06275106 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	—	—
ATB SUSSEX LTD→ 16348135 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
AUTO COSMETIX LIMITED→ 04284144 · est 2001 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	24y	—	—
AUTO SOLUTIONS (CONVERSIONS) LIMITED→ 13998820 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
AUTO TOP SERVICE LTD→ 13382954 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
AUTOCARE (HOVE) LIMITED→ 04892352 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
AUTOCARE COLLECTIVE LTD→ 12413007 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—

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

Incorporated2003-02-03

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

2 Upperton Gardens

Eastbourne

East Sussex

BN21 2AH

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-27

Last: 2025-06-13

Officers (4 active · 2 resigned)

THORNTON, Deborah Patricia→

secretary · appointed 2003-02-05

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

THORNTON, Barry Victor→

director · ~75y · appointed 2003-02-05

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

THORNTON, Dionne→

director · ~45y · appointed 2016-04-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

THORNTON, Russell→

director · ~42y · appointed 2016-04-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

STARTCO LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2003-02-03 · resigned 2003-02-05

Resigned

NEWCO LIMITED→

corporate-director · appointed 2003-02-03 · resigned 2003-02-05

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	20/05/2010	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.