A1 VEHICLE SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
08719242 · ltd · incorporated 2013-10-04
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 Oct 2024
Net worth
£6.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (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: 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 (58/100).

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 (2 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
30 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £6,699

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£7k
↑ 37% YoY
Current Assets
£9k
↓ 49% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£4k£7k£11k£14k£18kOct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31
Total assets£17.6k£25.8k
Current assets£8.9k£17.5k
Net assets£6.7k£4.9k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 2 gazette
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-31
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  2. 2025-12-30
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  3. 2025-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-07-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-07-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-07-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-07-17
    📄
    administrative-restoration-company
    restoration · RT01
  10. 2020-03-10
    📄
    gazette-dissolved-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ2
  11. 2019-12-24
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  12. 2019-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-07-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-07-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-07-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-12-31
    ➖
    LAYCOCK, Christopher Jason resigned
    director
  17. 2013-10-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A1 VEHICLE SERVICES LIMITED
  18. 2013-10-04
    ➕
    BOARDMAN, John appointed
    secretary
  19. 2013-10-04
    ➕
    DEWHURST, Ian appointed
    director
  20. 2013-10-04
    ➕
    LAYCOCK, Christopher Jason appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple 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

clean
No 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Ian Dewhurst
Individual · British · DOB 07/1969 · age 57
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/09/2016

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2013-10-04
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Unit 4 Moston Road
Middleton
Manchester
M24 1SE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-18
Last: 2025-10-04

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

BOARDMAN, John→
secretary · appointed 2013-10-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DEWHURST, Ian→
director · ~57y · appointed 2013-10-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LAYCOCK, Christopher Jason→
director · ~54y · appointed 2013-10-04 · resigned 2014-12-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (30 total)

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-12-31
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-17