DRAKES GARAGE RECOVERY LTD

💤Zombieactive
06672855 · ltd · incorporated 2008-08-14
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 52219
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). 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 (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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
39 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · IFRS
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Average employees100100

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-09-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-08-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-08-15
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  10. 2018-08-15
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2018-08-15
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2018-07-31
    SPENCER, Andrew James Robert resigned
    director
  13. 2018-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-09-01
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2008-08-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DRAKES GARAGE RECOVERY LTD
  18. 2008-08-14
    DRAKE, Nigel Robert appointed
    director
  19. 2008-08-14
    SPENCER, Andrew James Robert appointed
    director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "DRAKE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Nigel Robert Drake
Individual · British · DOB 11/1963 · age 63
2550%
25-50% shares14/08/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Andrew James Robert Spencerceased 31/07/2018· 25-50% shares

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 →

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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
Incorporated2008-08-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC52219 — SIC 52219

Registered office

Drakes Garage York Road
Shiptonthorpe
York
North Yorkshire
YO43 3PH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-28
Last: 2025-08-14

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

DRAKE, Nigel Robert
director · ~63y · appointed 2008-08-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SPENCER, Andrew James Robert
director · ~49y · appointed 2008-08-14 · resigned 2018-07-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (39 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-08-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-05-30