BELL VEHICLE SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
09936940 · ltd · incorporated 2016-01-05
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 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 70/100 (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 (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
23 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
70/100Strong
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
77
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£0Jan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (14 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-09
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  2. 2025-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-09-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-02-17
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2021-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-10-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-05-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-02-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-01-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BELL VEHICLE SERVICES LIMITED
  13. 2016-01-05
    BELL, Raymond Francis appointed
    director
  14. 2016-01-05
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BELL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

50/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 med ·
Name changed recently
medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2025-10-09: certificate-change-of-name-company

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Raymond Francis Bell
Individual · Northern Irish · DOB 12/1986 · age 40
75100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest06/04/2016

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 →
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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2016-01-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

4a Flint Stables
Hill Road
Watlington
Oxfordshire
OX49 5AD
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-01
Last: 2026-02-15

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

BELL, Raymond Francis
director · ~40y · appointed 2016-01-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (23 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-04
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2025-10-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-09-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-06-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-17
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-10-21