A BANKS MOTOR ENGINEERS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
05556086 · ltd · incorporated 2005-09-07
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 Nov 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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 13.9y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 13.9 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
57 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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-11-30 | 2023-11-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 1100 | 1000 |
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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-15📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-08-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-10-05📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-10-05📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-07-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-07-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-10📍change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD02
- 2020-09-09📍move-registers-to-registered-office-company-with-new-addressaddress · AD04
- 2020-08-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-18📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-10-09📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2019-10-09📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2019-07-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-02📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-07-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2012-05-17🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 2005-09-07🏢Company incorporatedAs A BANKS MOTOR ENGINEERS LIMITED
- 2005-09-07➕BANKS, Lorraine Marie appointedsecretary
- 2005-09-07➕BANKS, Andrew John appointeddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BANKS" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
- +No director turnover: Company is 21 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- 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
cleanNo 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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Andrew John Banks Individual · British · DOB 06/1962 · age 64 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 07/09/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Automotive · ST postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1ST GLASS WINDSCREENS CHESHIRE LIMITED→ 14401619 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| 24HRS RECOVERY SERVICES LTD→ 15662402 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 2CV CLEARANCE LIMITED→ 08771404 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| 3G MOTORS LTD→ 15086256 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 4D AUTOMOTIVE SOLUTIONS LTD→ 13528485 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| A A SILENCERS LIMITED→ 06042843 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| A D LUXURY COACH SALES LTD→ 16222009 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| A. HISSEY & SON LIMITED→ 01684602 · est 1982 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 43y | — | — |
| A.D. COACH SYSTEMS LIMITED→ 02349028 · est 1989 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 37y | — | — |
| A&A MOTORS STOKE LIMITED→ 16607397 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| A1 MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED→ 05958790 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| AA AUTOCARE LIMITED→ 16161070 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2005-09-07
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200
Registered office
Units 8 & 9 Fields Road
Alsager
Stoke-On-Trent
ST7 2LX
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-21
Last: 2025-09-07
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
BANKS, Lorraine Marie→
Activesecretary · appointed 2005-09-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BANKS, Andrew John→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2005-09-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
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
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 17/05/2012 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (57 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-09
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-01
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-10-05
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-10-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-02
change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2020-09-10