A1 CARRIAGES CAR SALES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04910409 · ltd · incorporated 2003-09-24
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
£994.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45112
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 73). 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
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
55 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 · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £994,107
Net assets shrinking
Down £217,093 YoY
Cash YoY
-29%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£720k
↓ 29% YoY
Net Worth
£994k
↓ 18% YoY
Current Assets
£1.4m
↓ 23% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£366k£732k£1.1m£1.5m£1.8mSept 2024Sept 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-09-302024-09-30
Total assets£994.1k£1.21M
Current assets£1.42M£1.83M
Cash£720.4k£1.01M
Debtors£67.4k£102.3k
Net assets£994.1k£1.21M

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-02-22
    📄
    capital-name-of-class-of-shares
    capital · SH08
  7. 2021-01-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-06-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-04-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-06-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-09-30
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-10-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2011-05-01
    ➖
    CONEY, Paul David resigned
    secretary
  17. 2003-09-25
    ➕
    AFFLECK, Stephen Thomas appointed
    director
  18. 2003-09-25
    ➕
    CONEY, Paul David appointed
    secretary
  19. 2003-09-25
    ➖
    PREMIER SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 2003-09-25
    ➖
    PREMIER DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  21. 2003-09-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A1 CARRIAGES CAR SALES LIMITED
  22. 2003-09-24
    ➕
    PREMIER SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2003-09-24
    ➕
    PREMIER DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stephen Thomas Affleck
Individual · English · DOB 11/1953 · age 73
50–75%
—50-75% shares06/04/2016

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

8 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
Incorporated2003-09-24
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45112 — SIC 45112

Registered office

The Old Barn Off Wood Street
Swanley Village
Swanley
Kent
BR8 7PA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-08
Last: 2025-09-24

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

AFFLECK, Stephen Thomas→
director · ~73y · appointed 2003-09-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CONEY, Paul David→
secretary · appointed 2003-09-25 · resigned 2011-05-01
Resigned
PREMIER SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-09-24 · resigned 2003-09-25
Resigned
PREMIER DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-09-24 · resigned 2003-09-25
Resigned

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

Recent filings (55 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-29
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2021-02-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-04