1ST CHOICE CARS AND VANS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
07176234 · ltd · incorporated 2010-03-03
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
£9.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45112
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 66). 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).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 10.0y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 10.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
43 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £9,911
Net assets shrinking
Down £15,265 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£22k
Net Worth
£10k
↓ 61% YoY
Current Assets
£572k
↑ 27% 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 | £9.9k | £33.9k |
| Current assets | £572.3k | £452.1k |
| Cash | £21.5k | — |
| Debtors | — | £12.6k |
| Net assets | £9.9k | £25.2k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-16📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2022-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-08-24📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-11-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-11-16➕ELLIOTT, Anthony Ronald appointeddirector
- 2016-11-16➖ELLIOTT, Tracy resigneddirector
- 2016-11-16📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2016-11-16📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2016-09-23➖ELLIOTT, Dane Anthony resigneddirector
- 2016-09-23➕ELLIOTT, Tracy appointeddirector
- 2016-09-23📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2016-05-21🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 2013-06-27➖ELLIOTT, Tracy resigneddirector
- 2010-03-03🏢Company incorporatedAs 1ST CHOICE CARS AND VANS LIMITED
- 2010-03-03➕ELLIOTT, Dane Anthony appointeddirector
- 2010-03-03➕ELLIOTT, Tracy appointeddirector
Owner dependency
90/100
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.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
75/100
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 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Tracy Elliott Individual · British · DOB 12/1960 · age 66 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 30/06/2016 |
Mr Dane Anthony Elliott Individual · British · DOB 11/1986 · age 40 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 30/06/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Automotive · CM postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1ST CALL WINDSCREENS LTD→ 03942185 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 26y | — | — |
| 247 MOBILE TYRES ESSEX LIMITED→ 15083884 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 3E VALETING CENTRE LIMITED→ 13916411 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| 4WHEELS CAR PARTS LTD→ 15681510 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 4X4 REBUILDING LTD→ 11814077 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| 720 PERFORMANCE LIMITED→ 13427347 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| A E SMITH BODYCRAFT LIMITED→ 06584117 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| A J DEDMAN GARAGE SERVICE LIMITED→ 04819065 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| A J OSTRIDGE (TRANSPORT) LIMITED→ 03063002 · est 1995 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 30y | — | — |
| A.D DISTRIBUTIONS LIMITED→ 16819562 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| A.G.W. TRADING LIMITED→ 11315778 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| A1 DYNASTY LTD→ 10789711 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2010-03-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45112 — SIC 45112
Registered office
131-133 Roman Road
Mountnessing
Brentwood
Essex
CM15 0UD
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-17
Last: 2026-03-03
Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)
ELLIOTT, Anthony Ronald→
Activedirector · ~66y · appointed 2016-11-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ELLIOTT, Dane Anthony→
Resigneddirector · ~40y · appointed 2010-03-03 · resigned 2016-09-23
ELLIOTT, Tracy→
Resigneddirector · ~66y · appointed 2016-09-23 · resigned 2016-11-16
ELLIOTT, Tracy→
Resigneddirector · ~66y · appointed 2010-03-03 · resigned 2013-06-27
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
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | A registered charge | — | 21/05/2016 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (43 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-15
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-03
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-08-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-04