A39 AUTOBITS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

06529438 · ltd · incorporated 2008-03-11

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

£-83.5k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Retail trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

48 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £83,528

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

-£84k

↓ 1.1% YoY

Current Assets

£9k

↓ 1.8% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£-83.5k	£-82.6k
Current assets	£8.8k	£8.9k
Net assets	£-83.5k	£-82.6k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand

2025-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-04-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-04-02
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-07-23
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2014-01-01
➖
SMARTER ACCOUNTING SERVICES LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2008-03-11
🏢
Company incorporated
As A39 AUTOBITS LIMITED
2008-03-11
➕
NORTON, Carol Ruth appointed
director
2008-03-11
➕
SMARTER ACCOUNTING SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary

Owner dependency

93/100

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 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 18 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 18 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Carol Ruth Norton Individual · British · DOB 02/1965 · age 61	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Automotive · EX postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
A & R TAILIFT SERVICES LIMITED→ 04881457 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—
A & S AUTO SOLUTIONS LTD→ 15276678 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
A M SQUIRES LIMITED→ 04703989 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
A STAR AUTO MECHANICS LTD→ 14711928 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
A&M COATINGS (SW) LTD→ 14498384 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
A1 MOT & SERVICE SW LTD→ 16883875 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AARONBERG LTD→ 11844730 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
ACE MOTORCYCLES LIMITED→ 11580622 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
ACM CAR SALES LTD→ 14468269 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
ACORN TYRES AND EXHAUSTS LTD→ 11804162 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
ADAMS AUTO LIMITED→ 01736397 · est 1983 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	42y	—	—
ADAPTIVE VEHICLE CONVERSIONS LIMITED→ 12240720 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2008-03-11

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC45320 — Retail trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories

Registered office

18 Glenfield Road

Bideford

Devon

EX39 2LU

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-23

Last: 2026-03-09

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

NORTON, Carol Ruth→

director · ~61y · appointed 2008-03-11

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SMARTER ACCOUNTING SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2008-03-11 · resigned 2014-01-01

Resigned

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