A&L ESSEX AUTOS LTD

💤Zombieactive
11632148 · ltd · incorporated 2018-10-19
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
£-455
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 72/100 (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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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

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 (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
8 connected companies via shared directors
69
Filing history
30 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
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 · FRS 102
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £455
Net assets shrinking
Down £703 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
-£455
↓ 283% YoY
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
-£455£1£458£914£1k£2kJul 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
Total assets£-455£248
Current assets£1.8k
Net assets£-455£248

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
5
filings
  • 2 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
5
filings
  • 2 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2026-03-18
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  3. 2026-03-18
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  4. 2026-03-18
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2025-10-31
    CARTER, Alexanda Paul resigned
    director
  6. 2025-03-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-05-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2024-05-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  9. 2024-05-24
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  10. 2024-05-24
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  11. 2024-05-24
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2023-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2023-04-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2022-03-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2021-04-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2020-10-13
    SARL, Luke appointed
    director
  17. 2020-10-13
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  18. 2020-09-23
    CARTER, Alexanda Paul appointed
    director
  19. 2020-09-23
    SARL, Luke resigned
    director
  20. 2020-09-23
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  21. 2020-09-23
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  22. 2020-04-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  23. 2018-10-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A&L ESSEX AUTOS LTD
  24. 2018-10-19
    SARL, Luke 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

45/100
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.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Group structure

Hds Projects Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Hds Projects Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
A&L ESSEX AUTOS LTD
This company · 11632148

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Hds Projects Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control24/05/2024
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Alex Carterceased 31/10/2025· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control
  • Mr Luke Sarlceased 24/05/2024· significant influence

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
Incorporated2018-10-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Priory Place
Priory Road
Tiptree Essex
Essex
CO5 0QE
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-19
Last: 2026-03-05

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

SARL, Luke
director · ~36y · appointed 2020-10-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CARTER, Alexanda Paul
director · ~33y · appointed 2020-09-23 · resigned 2025-10-31
Resigned
SARL, Luke
director · ~36y · appointed 2018-10-19 · resigned 2020-09-23
Resigned

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

Recent filings (30 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-18
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-03-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2026-03-18
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-07
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-05-24
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2024-05-24
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2024-05-24
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-05-24
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-05-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-19