A & J MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04523746 · ltd · incorporated 2002-09-02
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 2025
Net worth
£-90.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
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, 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, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
56 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £90,536
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£91k
↓ 2.3% YoY
Current Assets
£3k
↓ 13% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-09-30 | 2024-09-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £29.1k | £31.1k |
| Current assets | £3.2k | £3.7k |
| Net assets | £-90.5k | £-88.5k |
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 (21 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-07-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-04-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-06-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-02-02📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2016-06-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-19📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2016-03-31➖RUMSBY, Andrea Karen resignedsecretary
- 2015-09-08📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-06-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2002-09-02🏢Company incorporatedAs A & J MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED
- 2002-09-02➕RUMSBY, James Kevin appointeddirector
- 2002-09-02➕RUMSBY, Andrea Karen appointedsecretary
- 2002-09-02➕CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2002-09-02➖CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
Owner dependency
93/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
95/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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
cleanNo 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 James Kevin Rumsby Individual · British · DOB 06/1962 · age 64 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| 121 VENTURE LTD→ 15124112 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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| A C MUTIMER LTD→ 04646464 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| A.J. GIBBONS & SON LIMITED→ 01291633 · est 1976 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 49y | — | — |
| A&JM CONSULTANCY LTD→ 13488178 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| AA MOTOR MEDIC LIMITED→ 08145304 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| ABBEY RACE ENGINEERING LTD→ 16931464 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ABBEYGATE AUTO SERVICES LIMITED→ 08487132 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| ACM BODY REPAIRS LTD→ 12631837 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2002-09-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200
Registered office
Unit 6 Maitland Road, Lion Barn Industrial Estate
Needham Market
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP6 8NZ
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-16
Last: 2025-09-02
Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)
RUMSBY, James Kevin→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2002-09-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
RUMSBY, Andrea Karen→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2002-09-02 · resigned 2016-03-31
CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-09-02 · resigned 2002-09-02
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (56 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-11-05