BEST ENGINES (UK) LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
08635472 · ltd · incorporated 2013-08-02
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
£-10.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -99% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).
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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
34 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £10,677
Very low cash
Cash position: £46
Cash draining
Cash down 99% YoY
Cash YoY
-99%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£46
↓ 99% YoY
Net Worth
-£11k
↓ 182% YoY
Current Assets
£27k
↑ 17% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-10.7k | £15.0k |
| Current assets | £27.1k | £23.2k |
| Cash | £46 | £4.1k |
| Debtors | £27.0k | £19.2k |
| Net assets | £-10.7k | £-3.8k |
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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-08-31📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-08-31📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-08-31📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-12-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-12-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-02📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2017-08-02📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2017-05-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2017-03-13📄change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2013-08-02🏢Company incorporatedAs BEST ENGINES (UK) LIMITED
- 2013-08-02➕RATCLIFFE, Gary appointeddirector
Owner dependency
80/100
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.
- +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
58/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
- 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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gary Ratcliffe Individual · British · DOB 06/1973 · age 53 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 02/08/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| BARKERS GARAGE LIMITED→ 06314094 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| BARLEY MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED→ 15353123 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BB MOTORS (HEMINGBROUGH) LTD→ 14671799 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| BEACON RECOVERY SERVICES (YORKSHIRE) LTD→ 12024226 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| BEAUMONTS GARAGE LTD→ 04721366 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| BELLERBY INDUSTRIES LTD→ 17061951 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BERM OPTICAL PRODUCTS LIMITED→ 01423597 · est 1979 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 46y | — | — |
| BGLR LTD→ 16838242 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2013-08-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200
Registered office
Unit 14b The Gardens
Malton Road
York
North Yorkshire
YO32 9TN
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-16
Last: 2025-08-02
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
RATCLIFFE, Gary→
Activedirector · ~53y · appointed 2013-08-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (34 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-31
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-08-31
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-08-31
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-08-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-02