CLAVELL (UK) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05074995 · ltd · incorporated 2004-03-16
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Freight transport by road
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 9.4y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 9.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
8 officers (1 active, 8 linked, 3 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
60 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
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£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees11001100

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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-09-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-07-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-12-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-02-24
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  11. 2017-02-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  12. 2016-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-03-15
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-08-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-03-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-11-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2008-09-01
    ➖
    MORRIS, Alan Vincent resigned
    secretary
  18. 2007-09-07
    ➕
    HARNEISS, John Fredrick Charles appointed
    director
  19. 2007-09-07
    ➖
    HARNEISS, John Fredrick Charles resigned
    secretary
  20. 2007-09-07
    ➕
    MORRIS, Alan Vincent appointed
    secretary
  21. 2007-09-07
    ➖
    EDDINGTON, Peter resigned
    director
  22. 2005-11-01
    ➕
    HARNEISS, John Fredrick Charles appointed
    secretary
  23. 2005-10-31
    ➖
    HARNEISS, Joyce resigned
    secretary
  24. 2005-10-27
    ➖
    HARNEISS, John Fredrick Charles resigned
    director
  25. 2005-08-31
    ➕
    EDDINGTON, Peter appointed
    director
  26. 2004-03-26
    ➖
    ABERGAN REED NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2004-03-26
    ➖
    ABERGAN REED LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  28. 2004-03-18
    ➕
    HARNEISS, Joyce appointed
    secretary
  29. 2004-03-18
    ➕
    HARNEISS, John Fredrick Charles appointed
    director
  30. 2004-03-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CLAVELL (UK) LIMITED
  31. 2004-03-16
    ➕
    ABERGAN REED NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  32. 2004-03-16
    ➕
    ABERGAN REED 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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • 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 22 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
Mr John Fredrick Charles Harneiss
Individual · British · DOB 04/1957 · age 69
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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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
Incorporated2004-03-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

Lowgate House
Church Lane Conisholme
Louth
Lincolnshire
LN11 7LX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-22
Last: 2026-03-08

Officers (1 active · 7 resigned)

HARNEISS, John Fredrick Charles→
director · ~69y · appointed 2007-09-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARNEISS, John Fredrick Charles→
secretary · appointed 2005-11-01 · resigned 2007-09-07
Resigned
HARNEISS, Joyce→
secretary · appointed 2004-03-18 · resigned 2005-10-31
Resigned
MORRIS, Alan Vincent→
secretary · appointed 2007-09-07 · resigned 2008-09-01
Resigned
ABERGAN REED NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-03-16 · resigned 2004-03-26
Resigned
EDDINGTON, Peter→
director · ~61y · appointed 2005-08-31 · resigned 2007-09-07
Resigned
HARNEISS, John Fredrick Charles→
director · ~69y · appointed 2004-03-18 · resigned 2005-10-27
Resigned
ABERGAN REED LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-03-16 · resigned 2004-03-26
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
A registered charge—22/02/2017—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (60 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-03-09