A J F MOTOR ENGINEERS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
06157935 · ltd · incorporated 2007-03-14
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
£-11.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 19.1y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 19.1 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 (1 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
52 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
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £11,355
Net assets shrinking
Down £54,306 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£11k
↓ 126% YoY
Current Assets
£96k
↓ 37% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£11k£22k£54k£87k£120k£153kJun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Total assets£-1.6k£62.1k
Current assets£96.2k£153.1k
Net assets£-11.4k£43.0k

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 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. 2026-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-04-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-06-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-03-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-01-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-04-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2016-01-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-04-10
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-12-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2011-12-01
    ➖
    CARTER-FELL, Julie Ann resigned
    secretary
  17. 2009-11-24
    ➕
    CARTER-FELL, Julie Ann appointed
    secretary
  18. 2009-11-24
    ➖
    FELL, Adrian James resigned
    secretary
  19. 2009-11-24
    ➖
    CARTER-FELL, Julie Ann resigned
    director
  20. 2007-05-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  21. 2007-03-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A J F MOTOR ENGINEERS LIMITED
  22. 2007-03-14
    ➕
    FELL, Adrian James appointed
    director
  23. 2007-03-14
    ➕
    FELL, Adrian James appointed
    secretary
  24. 2007-03-14
    ➕
    CARTER-FELL, Julie Ann 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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • 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 19 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 Adrian James Fell
Individual · British · DOB 05/1972 · age 54
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · firm interest06/04/2016

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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2007-03-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

212 Westcott Venture Park Westcott Venture Park
Westcott
Aylesbury
HP18 0XB
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-28
Last: 2026-03-14

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

FELL, Adrian James→
director · ~54y · appointed 2007-03-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CARTER-FELL, Julie Ann→
secretary · appointed 2009-11-24 · resigned 2011-12-01
Resigned
FELL, Adrian James→
secretary · appointed 2007-03-14 · resigned 2009-11-24
Resigned
CARTER-FELL, Julie Ann→
director · ~57y · appointed 2007-03-14 · resigned 2009-11-24
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
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Debenture1 property22/05/2007—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (52 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-03
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-04-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-23