A1 BEARINGS & TRANSMISSIONS LTD
💤Zombieactive
06957723 · ltd · incorporated 2009-07-09
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
£506.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
44 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 · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £506,659
Cash YoY
-30%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£109k
↓ 30% YoY
Net Worth
£507k
↑ 14% YoY
Current Assets
£540k
↑ 17% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £506.7k | £443.7k |
| Current assets | £540.0k | £463.4k |
| Cash | £109.5k | £155.7k |
| Debtors | £342.0k | £267.9k |
| Net assets | £506.7k | £443.7k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-21📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2023-04-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-27📄capital-return-purchase-own-sharescapital · SH03
- 2023-02-27📄capital-cancellation-sharescapital · SH06
- 2022-11-15📄memorandum-articlesincorporation · MA
- 2022-11-15📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2022-11-08➖VENNARD, David, Mr. resignedsecretary
- 2022-04-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-04-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-04-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2013-08-01➖VENNARD, David resigneddirector
- 2013-05-20➕VENNARD, David appointeddirector
- 2009-07-09🏢Company incorporatedAs A1 BEARINGS & TRANSMISSIONS LTD
- 2009-07-09➕KIRKWOOD, Stephen appointeddirector
- 2009-07-09➕VENNARD, David, Mr. appointedsecretary
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.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
88/100
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 68. 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 17 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Stephen Kirkwood Individual · British · DOB 07/1958 · age 68 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 01/06/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 360 AUTOMATION PTY UK LIMITED→ 15890526 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 80NOIR LIMITED→ 16275944 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ABDULKARIM HNAWI GENERAL TRADING LTD→ 16691265 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ACME TRADERS LIMITED→ 16527756 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ACORN DAIRY LIMITED→ 06959532 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| AGHOCO 1136 LIMITED→ 08317460 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| AIARON LIMITED→ 16458030 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AINSLIEM LTD→ 15552487 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AKSIMI TRADING LTD→ 16833444 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ALLIED FUELS LIMITED→ 02712437 · est 1992 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 33y | — | — |
| ALSANOBAR TRADING LTD→ 16798848 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ALSUTANATE FOR PRECIOUS STONES AND SILVER LTD→ 16777015 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
8 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
Incorporated2009-07-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade
Registered office
Unit 1 Eldon Hope Farm
Old Eldon
Shildon
County Durham
DL4 2QX
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-04
Last: 2025-09-20
Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)
KIRKWOOD, Stephen→
Activedirector · ~68y · appointed 2009-07-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
VENNARD, David, Mr.→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2009-07-09 · resigned 2022-11-08
VENNARD, David→
Resigneddirector · ~81y · appointed 2013-05-20 · resigned 2013-08-01
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (44 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-25
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-09-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-20
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2023-03-27
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2023-02-27
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2022-11-15
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2022-11-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-21