A1 COACHES LTD

🌳Matureactive
09166933 · ltd · incorporated 2014-08-07
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 49390
Sector: Transportation & storage
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 79909Other reservation service activities n.e.c.
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile
address, 2 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
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 5 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
44 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£0Jul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Average employees100100

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-05
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2024-01-26
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  5. 2024-01-24
    ➕
    DONNELLY, Rachel Helen appointed
    director
  6. 2023-10-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-05-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2023-03-23
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-new-address
    address · AD02
  9. 2022-12-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2022-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-08-13
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  12. 2021-08-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2021-08-10
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  14. 2019-10-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-05-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-08-08
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  17. 2018-08-08
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  18. 2018-08-08
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  19. 2018-06-05
    ➖
    STEPANOV, Nikolay resigned
    director
  20. 2016-10-07
    ➕
    DONNELLY, John Francis appointed
    director
  21. 2016-05-01
    ➖
    KOHOVS, Ruslans resigned
    director
  22. 2015-06-02
    ➖
    COTTON, Ian Mark resigned
    director
  23. 2015-03-14
    ➕
    STEPANOV, Nikolay appointed
    director
  24. 2014-08-08
    ➕
    COTTON, Ian Mark appointed
    director
  25. 2014-08-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A1 COACHES LTD
  26. 2014-08-07
    ➕
    KOHOVS, Ruslans appointed
    director

Owner dependency

81/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 81 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

26/100
Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — DONNELLY, Rachel Helen (same surname) appointed 2024-01-24. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 81 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.

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 John Francis Donnelly
Individual · British · DOB 01/1945 · age 81
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control20/10/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Nikolay Stepanovceased 10/01/2018· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control

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

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
Incorporated2014-08-07
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49390 — SIC 49390

Registered office

Centaur House Gardiners Place
Yard 1
Skelmersdale
WN8 9SP
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-21
Last: 2025-08-07

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

DONNELLY, John Francis→
director · ~81y · appointed 2016-10-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DONNELLY, Rachel Helen→
director · ~53y · appointed 2024-01-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COTTON, Ian Mark→
director · ~62y · appointed 2014-08-08 · resigned 2015-06-02
Resigned
KOHOVS, Ruslans→
director · ~47y · appointed 2014-08-07 · resigned 2016-05-01
Resigned
STEPANOV, Nikolay→
director · ~55y · appointed 2015-03-14 · resigned 2018-06-05
Resigned

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

Recent filings (44 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-05
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-08-05
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-01-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-10
change-sail-address-company-with-new-address
address · AD02
2023-03-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-12-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-31
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2021-08-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-12