CITYVOE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC274365 · ltd · incorporated 2004-10-07

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 Oct 2023

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 45200

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). 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 (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 21.3y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 21.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (69/100)

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

1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

54 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2023-10-31
Average employees	700

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2025-06-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-07-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-05-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-02-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-10-09
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-03-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-11-13
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-05-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2013-10-25
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2008-09-12
➖
PAULL & WILLIAMSONS resigned
corporate-secretary
2005-01-11
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
2004-11-03
➕
WILSON, Alexander John appointed
director
2004-11-03
➖
P & W SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2004-11-03
➕
PAULL & WILLIAMSONS appointed
corporate-secretary
2004-11-03
➖
P & W DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
corporate-director
2004-10-07
🏢
Company incorporated
As CITYVOE LIMITED
2004-10-07
➕
P & W SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2004-10-07
➕
P & W DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
corporate-director

Owner dependency

93/100

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.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Alexander John Wilson Individual · Scottish · DOB 10/1963 · age 63	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	01/10/2016

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

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COLIN LAWSON TRANSPORT LIMITED→ SC268596 · est 2004	£1.64M £1.31M–£1.97M	£8.74M	—	7300	21y	87	59y
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CARS RECOVERY LIMITED→ SC334403 · est 2007	—	—	£186.5k	—	18y	83	68y
MACDUFF DIESELS LTD.→ SC177616 · est 1997	—	—	£909.3k	—	28y	83	70y
A. W. AUTOTECH LIMITED→ SC172396 · est 1997	—	—	£527.7k	—	29y	82	59y
ALAN J. ROSS MOTOR ENGINEERS LTD.→ SC178820 · est 1997	—	—	£382.8k	—	28y	82	72y
BRIDGE OF DON GARAGE LIMITED→ SC285473 · est 2005	—	—	£163.5k	—	20y	82	65y
CAMERON AUTOTECH LIMITED→ SC241160 · est 2002	—	—	£1.27M	—	23y	82	65y
COTTAGE CARS (ABERDEEN) LTD.→ SC350432 · est 2008	—	—	—	—	17y	82	65y
CROWN MOTORS (A & I) LIMITED→ SC128540 · est 1990	—	—	£2.41M	—	35y	82	66y
DUNECHT GARAGE LTD.→ SC148143 · est 1993	—	—	—	—	32y	82	71y
NORTH EAST CUSTOM COATINGS LIMITED→ SC738283 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—

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

Incorporated2004-10-07

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

16 King's Gate

Aberdeen

AB15 4EJ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-21

Last: 2025-10-07

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

WILSON, Alexander John→

director · ~63y · appointed 2004-11-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

P & W SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2004-10-07 · resigned 2004-11-03

Resigned

PAULL & WILLIAMSONS→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2004-11-03 · resigned 2008-09-12

Resigned

P & W DIRECTORS LIMITED→

corporate-director · appointed 2004-10-07 · resigned 2004-11-03

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company	Floating charge	1 property	11/01/2005	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.