AUTOSTART LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
07500179 · ltd · incorporated 2011-01-20
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 Jan 2026
Net worth
£62.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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 (78/100)

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
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £62,899
Net assets shrinking
Down £14,482 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£63k
↓ 19% YoY
Current Assets
£117k
↓ 2.1% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£24k£48k£72k£96k£120kJan 2025Jan 2026

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2026-01-312025-01-31
Total assets£62.9k£79.0k
Current assets£117.3k£119.8k
Net assets£62.9k£77.4k

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 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-02-11
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2024-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-07-09
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  6. 2023-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-04-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-03-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-05-16
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2019-05-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2019-04-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-04-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-01-12
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2018-01-12
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  16. 2018-01-12
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  17. 2017-12-31
    ➖
    CLARK, Stephen resigned
    director
  18. 2011-01-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AUTOSTART LIMITED
  19. 2011-01-20
    ➕
    BOLAM, Graham appointed
    director
  20. 2011-01-20
    ➕
    CLARK, Stephen appointed
    director

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 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — 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 60. 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 15 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Dawn Bolam
Individual · British · DOB 12/1969 · age 57
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting31/12/2017
Mr Graham Bolam
Individual · British · DOB 04/1966 · age 60
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Stephen Clarkceased 31/12/2017· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control

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 →
🔒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
Incorporated2011-01-20
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Unit 2 Sawmill Industrial Estate
South Road
Alnwick
Northumberland
NE66 2QW

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-10-31
Last made up to: 2026-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-03
Last: 2026-01-20

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

BOLAM, Graham→
director · ~60y · appointed 2011-01-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CLARK, Stephen→
director · ~68y · appointed 2011-01-20 · resigned 2017-12-31
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
2026-05-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-20
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-02-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-30
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2024-07-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-09