ANIMAL COURIERS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04916189 · ltd · incorporated 2003-09-30
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Freight transport by road
Sector: Transportation & storage
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 51210SIC 51210
  • 52219SIC 52219
  • 52230SIC 52230
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 79). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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, 4 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
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
64 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.

Key financials

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

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees1100

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-09-18
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2023-09-18
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  6. 2023-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-01-09
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AAMD
  8. 2022-10-19
    ➖
    O'SULLIVAN, Martin resigned
    director
  9. 2022-10-19
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  10. 2022-06-16
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  11. 2022-06-15
    ➕
    MARSH, Simon Thomas appointed
    director
  12. 2022-02-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2021-11-01
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  14. 2021-10-31
    ➖
    O'SULLIVAN, Lesley resigned
    secretary
  15. 2021-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2020-12-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2019-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2018-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2017-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  20. 2003-10-02
    ➕
    MARSH, Julia appointed
    director
  21. 2003-10-02
    ➕
    O'SULLIVAN, Lesley appointed
    secretary
  22. 2003-10-02
    ➕
    O'SULLIVAN, Martin appointed
    director
  23. 2003-09-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ANIMAL COURIERS LIMITED
  24. 2003-09-30
    ➕
    QA REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2003-09-30
    ➖
    QA REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2003-09-30
    ➕
    QA NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  27. 2003-09-30
    ➖
    QA NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ms Julia Marsh
Individual · British · DOB 02/1947 · age 79
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · firm interest30/09/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Martin O'Sullivanceased 15/09/2023· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · firm interest

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
Incorporated2003-09-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

3 East Point High Street
Seal
Sevenoaks
TN15 0EG
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-02
Last: 2025-09-18

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

MARSH, Julia→
director · ~79y · appointed 2003-10-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MARSH, Simon Thomas→
director · ~56y · appointed 2022-06-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
O'SULLIVAN, Lesley→
secretary · appointed 2003-10-02 · resigned 2021-10-31
Resigned
QA REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-09-30 · resigned 2003-09-30
Resigned
O'SULLIVAN, Martin→
director · ~70y · appointed 2003-10-02 · resigned 2022-10-19
Resigned
QA NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-09-30 · resigned 2003-09-30
Resigned

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

Recent filings (64 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-09-18
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-09-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-29
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AAMD
2023-01-09
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-10-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-14
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-06-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-02-24
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2021-11-01