1ST CHOICE SPARES UK LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
05867409 · ltd · incorporated 2006-07-05
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
£192.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Retail trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
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, 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
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 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 · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £192,464
Net assets shrinking
Down £4,015 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£192k
↓ 2.0% YoY
Current Assets
£398k
↓ 4.8% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-06-30 | 2024-06-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £198.2k | £212.2k |
| Current assets | £397.9k | £417.9k |
| Net assets | £192.5k | £196.5k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2026-03-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-03-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-07-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-07-03📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2018-07-03📄capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-sharescapital · SH10
- 2018-07-03📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2018-07-02📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2018-07-02📄statement-of-companys-objectschange-of-constitution · CC04
- 2018-03-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-03-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2006-07-05🏢Company incorporatedAs 1ST CHOICE SPARES UK LIMITED
- 2006-07-05➕ELIA, Catherine Marie appointedsecretary
- 2006-07-05➕ELIA, Catherine Marie appointeddirector
- 2006-07-05➕ELIA, Nicolo William appointeddirector
Owner dependency
91/100
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
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
89/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Nicolo William Elia Individual · British · DOB 12/1954 · age 72 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 05/07/2016 |
Mrs Catherine Marie Elia Individual · British · DOB 10/1966 · age 60 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 05/07/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Automotive · NR postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100-106 BER STREET NORWICH LIMITED→ 15841683 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 1ST CLASS CARS LIMITED→ 11433533 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| A D NICHOLSON LTD→ 16384272 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| A-LIST FINISHING LTD→ 05839033 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| A&A MINI SPECIALIST LTD→ 13315496 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| AAA MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED→ 11151902 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AB MOBILE MECHANICS LTD→ 15296937 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ABBEYGATE GARAGES LIMITED→ 01281314 · est 1976 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 49y | — | — |
| ABC GT CARWASH LTD→ 16240991 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ABEL MOTORWORKS LTD→ 11156739 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AC TUNING NFK LTD→ 16977964 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ACCESSIBLE AUTOMOTIVE LTD→ 16431471 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2006-07-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45320 — Retail trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories
Registered office
195a Newmarket Road
Norwich
NR4 6AP
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-19
Last: 2025-07-05
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
ELIA, Catherine Marie→
Activesecretary · appointed 2006-07-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ELIA, Catherine Marie→
Activedirector · ~60y · appointed 2006-07-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ELIA, Nicolo William→
Activedirector · ~72y · appointed 2006-07-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (55 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-07-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-04-15