COLDTRANS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05467780 · ltd · incorporated 2005-05-31
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
£10.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 49390
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle 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 8.5y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 8.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
51 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £10,297
Cash YoY
-8%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£8k
↓ 8.1% YoY
Net Worth
£10k
↑ 1.1% YoY
Current Assets
£35k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£7k£14k£21k£28k£35kAug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Total assets£49.2k£55.4k
Current assets£35.0k£35.0k
Cash£8.0k£8.7k
Debtors£27.0k£26.2k
Net assets£10.3k£10.2k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-05-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-01-17
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  9. 2020-01-17
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  10. 2019-05-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-04-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-12-15
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  13. 2017-11-28
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Bibby Financial Services LTD (As Security Trustee)
  14. 2017-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-09
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2016-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-06-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2005-06-20
    ➕
    PICKLES, Ashley appointed
    secretary
  19. 2005-06-20
    ➖
    PICKLES, Robert Ian resigned
    secretary
  20. 2005-06-20
    ➖
    PICKLES, John Robert resigned
    director
  21. 2005-05-31
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COLDTRANS LIMITED
  22. 2005-05-31
    ➕
    PICKLES, Robert Ian appointed
    director
  23. 2005-05-31
    ➕
    PICKLES, Robert Ian appointed
    secretary
  24. 2005-05-31
    ➕
    PICKLES, John Robert appointed
    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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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 Robert Ian Pickles
Individual · British · DOB 09/1976 · age 50
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/07/2016

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

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
Incorporated2005-05-31
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49390 — SIC 49390

Registered office

3 Scotton Court, Scotton
Knaresborough
North Yorkshire
HG5 9ND

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-14
Last: 2026-05-31

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

PICKLES, Ashley→
secretary · appointed 2005-06-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PICKLES, Robert Ian→
director · ~50y · appointed 2005-05-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PICKLES, Robert Ian→
secretary · appointed 2005-05-31 · resigned 2005-06-20
Resigned
PICKLES, John Robert→
director · ~80y · appointed 2005-05-31 · resigned 2005-06-20
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
Bibby Financial Services
Bibby Financial Services LTD (As Security Trustee)
A registered charge4 properties28/11/201717/01/2020

Recent filings (51 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-12
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2020-01-17