BRADBURY MOTORS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC045969 · ltd · incorporated 1968-09-24
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Stable recent picture — watch for any upcoming trigger event.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 39.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Oct 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45112
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 45200SIC 45200
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 39.0y

50/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 39.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

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
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
13 officers (3 active, 13 linked, 5 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
137 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
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£0Oct 2024Oct 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-10-312024-10-31
Average employees900900

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (41 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-01
    ➕
    DUFF, Steven appointed
    director
  4. 2024-08-01
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  5. 2024-07-24
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  6. 2024-07-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2024-07-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2023-07-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-03-12
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  16. 2017-03-12
    📄
    mortgage-charge-whole-release-with-charge-number
    mortgage · MR05
  17. 2017-03-12
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #4
  18. 2009-10-31
    ➕
    DUFF, Stuart appointed
    secretary
  19. 2009-10-31
    ➖
    ASHLEY ACCOUNTING SERVICES resigned
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2009-01-01
    ➕
    ASHLEY ACCOUNTING SERVICES appointed
    corporate-secretary
  21. 2009-01-01
    ➖
    BENSON & COMPANY resigned
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2006-12-21
    ➖
    PORTEOUS, Mark Andrew resigned
    secretary
  23. 2006-12-21
    ➕
    BENSON & COMPANY appointed
    corporate-secretary
  24. 2006-04-12
    ➕
    PORTEOUS, Mark Andrew appointed
    secretary
  25. 2006-04-12
    ➖
    LEDINGHAM CHALMERS LLP resigned
    corporate-secretary
  26. 2005-03-30
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  27. 2005-03-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland Commercial Services Limited
  28. 2003-04-15
    ➕
    LEDINGHAM CHALMERS LLP appointed
    corporate-secretary
  29. 2003-04-15
    ➖
    M & M COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  30. 2002-01-01
    ➕
    M & M COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  31. 2001-12-31
    ➖
    MACLACHLAN & MACKENZIE resigned
    corporate-secretary
  32. 1999-12-23
    ➖
    PATRICK, Robert James Neil resigned
    secretary
  33. 1999-12-23
    ➕
    MACLACHLAN & MACKENZIE appointed
    corporate-secretary
  34. 1999-01-18
    ➖
    WILSON, Andrew resigned
    director
  35. 1995-07-12
    ➕
    DUFF, Stuart Michael appointed
    director
  36. 1995-07-03
    ➖
    MCCARTHY, John resigned
    director
  37. 1994-07-01
    ➖
    SHIELDS, William Derek resigned
    director
  38. 1992-06-01
    ➕
    MCCARTHY, John appointed
    director
  39. 1987-07-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  40. 1987-07-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  41. 1968-09-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BRADBURY MOTORS LIMITED

Owner dependency

84/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

36/100
Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — DUFF, Steven (same surname) appointed 2024-08-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stuart Michael Duff
Individual · British · DOB 07/1962 · age 64
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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
Incorporated1968-09-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45112 — SIC 45112

Registered office

Unit 23 Whin Park Industrial
Estate, Port Seton
East Lothian
East Lothian
EH32 9SF

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-11
Last: 2026-05-28

Officers (3 active · 10 resigned)

DUFF, Stuart→
secretary · appointed 2009-10-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUFF, Steven→
director · ~36y · appointed 2024-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUFF, Stuart Michael→
director · ~64y · appointed 1995-07-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PATRICK, Robert James Neil→
secretary · resigned 1999-12-23
Resigned
PORTEOUS, Mark Andrew→
secretary · appointed 2006-04-12 · resigned 2006-12-21
Resigned
ASHLEY ACCOUNTING SERVICES→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2009-01-01 · resigned 2009-10-31
Resigned
BENSON & COMPANY→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2006-12-21 · resigned 2009-01-01
Resigned
LEDINGHAM CHALMERS LLP→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2003-04-15 · resigned 2006-04-12
Resigned
M & M COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2002-01-01 · resigned 2003-04-15
Resigned
MACLACHLAN & MACKENZIE→
corporate-secretary · appointed 1999-12-23 · resigned 2001-12-31
Resigned
MCCARTHY, John→
director · ~69y · appointed 1992-06-01 · resigned 1995-07-03
Resigned
SHIELDS, William Derek→
director · ~89y · resigned 1994-07-01
Resigned
WILSON, Andrew→
director · ~95y · resigned 1999-01-18
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

3
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland Commercial Services Limited
Floating charge1 property18/03/200512/03/2017
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Letter of offset1 property15/07/1987—
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property15/07/198730/03/2005
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (137 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-28
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-08-01
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2024-07-24
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-07-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-13