CRABTREE HAULAGE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

09948336 · ltd · incorporated 2016-01-13

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

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Freight transport by road

Sector: Transportation & storage

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 75). 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: medium (55/100)

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

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

21 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (13 events)Click to expand

2025-07-23
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-22
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-26
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-06
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-06
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-09
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-06
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-10-29
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-09-28
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-01-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-01-13
🏢
Company incorporated
As CRABTREE HAULAGE LIMITED
2016-01-13
➕
CRABTREE, Graham Charles appointed
director
2016-01-13
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

100/100

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 "CRABTREE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.
+No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100

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 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
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

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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Graham Charles Crabtree Individual · British · DOB 11/1951 · age 75	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	01/12/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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CAT CONTINENTAL LTD→ 16506114 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
CHARLIE STOBBART HAULAGE LIMITED→ 17121244 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
CK LOGISTICS LTD→ 13662442 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
CLARK BROTHERS HAULAGE LIMITED→ 11729148 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
CRIFFEL VUE PRIVATE HIRE LTD→ 11798000 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
CRL LOGISTICS LTD→ 11551122 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
CROFTON CARAVAN & LEISURE STORAGE LIMITED→ 05604393 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
CTM GROUP LIMITED→ 04431411 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
CUBED CLEVER LTD→ 16186720 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—

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.

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🔒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

Incorporated2016-01-13

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

6 Brunswick Street

Carlisle

Cumbria

CA1 1PN

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-10-31

Last made up to: 2025-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-02-09

Last: 2026-01-26

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CRABTREE, Graham Charles→

director · ~75y · appointed 2016-01-13

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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