A B CAR READING LTD

💤Zombieactive
12653205 · ltd · incorporated 2020-06-08
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 Jun 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
58/100
Worth a look
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 49320
Sector: Transportation & storage
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 70229Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed admin-neglect survivor — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 58/100 (worth a look), bankability 45/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (53/100). Current lenders should be on monthly review.

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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
13 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
58/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
40
Concerning — overdue filings or status flags present.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
49
Multiple red flags — proceed with caution.
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£0Jun 2023Jun 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-06-302023-06-30

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (12 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-04-30
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-05-31
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  5. 2023-05-30
    MAHMOOD, Mohammed Saqib resigned
    director
  6. 2023-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-07-07
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2021-07-01
    MAHMOOD, Mohammed Saqib appointed
    director
  10. 2020-06-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A B CAR READING LTD
  11. 2020-06-08
    MAHMOOD, Arshad appointed
    director
  12. 2020-06-08
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

2 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-03-31

Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-04-23

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Arshad Mahmood
Individual · British · DOB 06/1968 · age 58
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control08/06/2020

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Transport & logistics · RG postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
1ST CLASS LOGISTICS UK LTD
08924309 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
12y
1ST REYNOLDS SKIP HIRE LTD
04343088 · est 2001 · no financials extracted
24y
224 CARS LTD
15970873 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
1y
3D MEGASPOT INVESTMENT LTD
15731528 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
1y
500 CARS LIMITED
05274164 · est 2004 · no financials extracted
21y
500 LOGISTICS LIMITED
10016221 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
10y
725 LOGISTIC GROUP LTD
17104480 · est 2026 · no financials extracted
760 LOGISTICS LIMITED
09083503 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
11y
A & A CHAUFFEUR CARS LTD.
10548101 · est 2017 · no financials extracted
9y
A ADRY LOGISTICS LTD
16864082 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
A1 CARS (READING) LTD
07810833 · est 2011 · no financials extracted
14y
A1 GROUP TRANSPORT LIMITED
13245837 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
5y
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

10 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
Incorporated2020-06-08
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49320 — SIC 49320

Registered office

200 Brook Drive
Green Park
Reading
RG2 6UB
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-03-31OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2024-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-23OVERDUE
Last: 2025-04-09

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

MAHMOOD, Arshad
director · ~58y · appointed 2020-06-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MAHMOOD, Mohammed Saqib
director · ~30y · appointed 2021-07-01 · resigned 2023-05-30
Resigned

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

Recent filings (13 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-04
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-07
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-07-07
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-06-08