ARIEL MOTORCYCLES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
08540141 · ltd · incorporated 2013-05-22
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 May 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 29100
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 73). 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: high (81/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
41 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
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
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£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Average employees1100

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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 (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  5. 2023-03-16
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  6. 2023-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-05-06
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2022-05-06
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2022-04-10
    SIEBERT, Thomas Daniel resigned
    director
  10. 2022-04-10
    SIEBERT-SAUNDERS, Henry Joseph resigned
    director
  11. 2022-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-10-13
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  13. 2021-10-13
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  14. 2021-10-13
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  15. 2021-10-13
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  16. 2021-10-13
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  17. 2021-10-11
    SAUNDERS, Simon John appointed
    director
  18. 2021-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2020-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2019-06-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  21. 2019-06-19
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  22. 2013-05-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARIEL MOTORCYCLES LIMITED
  23. 2013-05-22
    SIEBERT, Thomas Daniel appointed
    director
  24. 2013-05-22
    SIEBERT-SAUNDERS, Henry Joseph appointed
    director

Owner dependency

90/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Group structure

Ariel Ltd is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Ariel Ltd
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
ARIEL MOTORCYCLES LIMITED
This company · 08540141

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ariel Ltd
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting11/10/2021
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Thomas Daniel Siebertceased 11/10/2021· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • Mr Henry Joseph Siebert-Saundersceased 11/10/2021· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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

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
Incorporated2013-05-22
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC29100 — SIC 29100

Registered office

Ariel Works
Yeovil Road
Crewkerne
Somerset
TA18 7NR

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-05
Last: 2025-05-22

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

SAUNDERS, Simon John
director · ~73y · appointed 2021-10-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SIEBERT, Thomas Daniel
director · ~46y · appointed 2013-05-22 · resigned 2022-04-10
Resigned
SIEBERT-SAUNDERS, Henry Joseph
director · ~40y · appointed 2013-05-22 · resigned 2022-04-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (41 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-14
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2023-06-14
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2023-03-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-24
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-05-06
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-05-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-25
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-10-13
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2021-10-13