ACE AUTO AND MOT'S LTD

💤Zombieactive
12853122 · ltd · incorporated 2020-09-02
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 Sept 2024
Net worth
£-2.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
🔔
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 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 71/100 (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: 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
10 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
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 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £2,778

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
-£3k
↑ 42% YoY
Current Assets
£7k
↑ 131% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£5k-£2k£75£3k£5k£7kSept 2023Sept 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-09-302023-09-30
Total assets£5.0k£315
Current assets£7.4k£3.2k
Net assets£-2.8k£-4.8k

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 (7 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2020-09-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACE AUTO AND MOT'S LTD
  6. 2020-09-02
    CARTER, Scott Derek appointed
    director
  7. 2020-09-02
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

80/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 6 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

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.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Scott Derek Carter
Individual · British · DOB 11/1976 · age 50
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control02/09/2020

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

Similar companies

Active · Automotive · RH postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
1 TOUCH REPAIR (MIDLANDS) LIMITED
10115067 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
10y
24/7 MOBILE TYRES SERVICES LTD
16748148 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
2K VEHICLES LTD
14542521 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
3y
360 CARS LTD
12237728 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
6y
4FRONT CAR SALES LIMITED
04366797 · est 2002 · no financials extracted
24y
ABBEY (HOLMETHORPE) LIMITED
01148212 · est 1973 · no financials extracted
52y
ACCELERATED MOTOR REPAIRS OXTED LIMITED
15469960 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
2y
ACCIDENT REPAIR HUB LTD
11756534 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
7y
ACE AUTOLOCKSMITHS LIMITED
11874748 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
7y
ACE SPEC ALLOYS LTD
15494411 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
2y
ACHIEVE CONTRACTORS LTD
08995386 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
12y
ACVS A COMPLETE VEHICLE SOLUTION LTD
15037722 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
2y
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
Incorporated2020-09-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Unit 6 Silverwood Snow Hill
Crawley Down
Crawley
RH10 3EN
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-15
Last: 2025-09-01

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CARTER, Scott Derek
director · ~50y · appointed 2020-09-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (10 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-18
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-09-02