JOHN MAHER RACING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC242671 · ltd · incorporated 2003-01-21

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 Jan 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 45200

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). 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 (77/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

53 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · IFRS

Metric	2025-01-31	2024-01-31
Total assets	—	£-121.0k
Current assets	—	£18.3k
Net assets	—	£-121.0k
Average employees	100	—

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

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2025-10-28
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-01
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-19
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-25
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-10-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-10-31
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-10-18
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-02-01
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-31
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-01-23
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annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-01-22
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annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2003-01-24
➖
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-01-24
➖
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2003-01-21
🏢
Company incorporated
As JOHN MAHER RACING LIMITED
2003-01-21
➕
MAHER, Helen appointed
secretary
2003-01-21
➕
MAHER, John appointed
director
2003-01-21
➕
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-01-21
➕
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100

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.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "MAHER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.

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 66. 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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 John Maher Individual · British · DOB 04/1960 · age 66	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	06/04/2016

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 · Automotive · HS postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
LAVA'S GARAGE LTD→ SC257278 · est 2003	—	—	£506.8k	—	22y	82	63y
ANGUS CLINTON (MOTORS) LIMITED→ SC050499 · est 1972	—	—	£583.5k	—	53y	80	73y
CENTRAL GARAGE LIMITED→ SC304560 · est 2006	—	—	£521.5k	—	19y	80	66y
LAING MOTORS LIMITED→ SC258861 · est 2003	—	—	£263.4k	—	22y	80	74y
MACLENNAN GARAGE SERVICES LIMITED→ SC476526 · est 2014	—	—	£176.7k	—	12y	78	61y
HEBRIDEAN COACHWORKS LIMITED→ SC317492 · est 2007	—	—	£111.3k	—	19y	77	52y
SIMPSON'S SUPPLIES LTD→ SC328730 · est 2007	—	—	£69.6k	—	18y	77	54y
HUGHSON RECOVERY SERVICES LIMITED→ SC880104 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	75	66y
DONALD CAMPBELL MOTORS LIMITED→ SC413029 · est 2011	—	—	£114.7k	—	14y	74	42y
HEBCO MECHANICAL SERVICES LIMITED→ SC579549 · est 2017	—	—	£66.3k	—	8y	74	50y
NORRIE'S MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED→ SC566835 · est 2017	—	—	—	—	8y	73	54y
DMK AUTOS LIMITED→ SC603342 · est 2018	—	—	£110.7k	—	7y	72	46y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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

Incorporated2003-01-21

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Unit 3, The Pier

Leverburgh

Isle Of Harris

Outer Hebrides

HS5 3UB

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-10-31

Last made up to: 2025-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-02-04

Last: 2026-01-21

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

MAHER, Helen→

secretary · appointed 2003-01-21

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MAHER, John→

director · ~66y · appointed 2003-01-21

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-01-21 · resigned 2003-01-24

Resigned

FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-01-21 · resigned 2003-01-24

Resigned

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

Recent filings (53 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-02-24

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-10-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-02-01

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-11-01

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-02-01

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-10-19

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-01-27

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-10-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-01-27

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2021-10-28

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2021-01-31

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-01-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-01-28

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2019-10-25

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2019-01-28