AUTO VEHICLE SPECIALISTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04669704 · ltd · incorporated 2003-02-18
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 19.0y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 19.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · 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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
72 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Jul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Average employees182000

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
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-01-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2023-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-02-14
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2019-01-03
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AAMD
  12. 2018-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-04-27
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2018-04-27
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  15. 2018-02-15
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  16. 2017-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-06-17
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  18. 2007-07-31
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Michael George Gosling
  19. 2007-07-01
    ➕
    CHANCE, Karen appointed
    secretary
  20. 2007-07-01
    ➕
    CHANCE, Simon appointed
    director
  21. 2007-07-01
    ➖
    OAKLEY SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2007-07-01
    ➖
    OAKLEY CORPORATE DOCTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  23. 2003-02-18
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AUTO VEHICLE SPECIALISTS LIMITED
  24. 2003-02-18
    ➕
    OAKLEY SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  25. 2003-02-18
    ➕
    OAKLEY CORPORATE DOCTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

85/100
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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Simon Chance
Individual · British · DOB 07/1976 · age 50
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Simon Chanceceased 15/02/2018· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control

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
Incorporated2003-02-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Unit 3 Of 8
Lisle Avenue
Kidderminster
Worcestershire
DY11 7DL

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last: 2026-02-14

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

CHANCE, Karen→
secretary · appointed 2007-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CHANCE, Simon→
director · ~50y · appointed 2007-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OAKLEY SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2003-02-18 · resigned 2007-07-01
Resigned
OAKLEY CORPORATE DOCTORS LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2003-02-18 · resigned 2007-07-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Michael George Gosling
Business sale agreement1 property31/07/200717/06/2015

Recent filings (72 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-15
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-01-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-18