A1 BEST TRADERS LTD
💤Zombieactive
11128325 · ltd · incorporated 2018-01-02
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£-21.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other transportation support activities
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 76/100 (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 (73/100).
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
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 4 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
27 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £21,724
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£22k
↓ 26% YoY
Current Assets
£15
↓ 42% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-01-31 | 2024-01-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-21.2k | £-16.8k |
| Current assets | £15 | £26 |
| Net assets | £-21.7k | £-17.2k |
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 (25 events)Click to expand
- 2025-10-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-29📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2023-10-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-10-13📍change-sail-address-company-with-new-addressaddress · AD02
- 2023-05-04📍default-companies-house-registered-office-address-appliedaddress · RP05
- 2023-01-11📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-01-11📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-10-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-01-14📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-01-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2019-09-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-03-05➖BISHOP, Jack Henry resigneddirector
- 2019-03-05➖HUMPHREY, Billy Jay resigneddirector
- 2019-03-05➖MCKEE, Byron Gordon resigneddirector
- 2019-03-05📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2019-03-05📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2019-03-05📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2018-01-02🏢Company incorporatedAs A1 BEST TRADERS LTD
- 2018-01-02➕STEVENS, Timothy Reginald appointeddirector
- 2018-01-02➕BISHOP, Jack Henry appointeddirector
- 2018-01-02➕HUMPHREY, Billy Jay appointeddirector
- 2018-01-02➕MCKEE, Byron Gordon appointeddirector
Owner dependency
83/100
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.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
65/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Timothy Reginald Stevens Individual · British · DOB 12/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · firm interest | 02/01/2018 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A M AIRPORT SHUTTLE COLCHESTER LTD→ 14987799 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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| ALEX’SCOURIER LTD→ 15759172 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ANDRZEJ KRUPINSKI LTD→ 15205358 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ANGLIAN FLIGHT CENTRES LIMITED→ 03296332 · est 1996 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 29y | — | — |
| ASH CABS COLCHESTER LTD→ 14976653 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AVIA BLU FLIGHTLINE LIMITED→ 02044401 · est 1986 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 39y | — | — |
| B BURLINGTON LIMITED→ 16907791 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BAF MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 11172725 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| BARKER AND HOOD (MANCHESTER) LIMITED→ 13434168 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| BARKER AND HOOD LIMITED→ 06205614 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| BARS LOGISTICS LTD→ 12389828 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2018-01-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC52290 — Other transportation support activities
Registered office
29 North Hill
Colchester
Essex
CO1 1EG
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-15
Last: 2026-01-01
Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)
STEVENS, Timothy Reginald→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2018-01-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BISHOP, Jack Henry→
Resigneddirector · ~27y · appointed 2018-01-02 · resigned 2019-03-05
HUMPHREY, Billy Jay→
Resigneddirector · ~27y · appointed 2018-01-02 · resigned 2019-03-05
MCKEE, Byron Gordon→
Resigneddirector · ~27y · appointed 2018-01-02 · resigned 2019-03-05
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (27 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-02
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-13
change-sail-address-company-with-new-address
address · AD02
2023-10-13
default-companies-house-registered-office-address-applied
address · RP05
2023-05-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-16
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-01-11
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-04