BENCHMARK MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC403334 · ltd · incorporated 2011-07-12
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 Jul 2024
Net worth
£157.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
44 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £157,866

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£158k
↑ 8.4% YoY
Current Assets
£110k
↓ 21% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£32k£63k£95k£126k£158kJul 2023Jul 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-07-312023-07-31
Total assets£175.4k£147.2k
Current assets£109.8k£139.2k
Net assets£157.9k£145.7k

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-09-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-07-27
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2023-07-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2023-04-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-07-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-04-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-12-21
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2017-12-20
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  15. 2017-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-01-09
    FOWLE, Richard resigned
    secretary
  17. 2014-01-09
    FOWLE, Richard David resigned
    director
  18. 2011-07-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BENCHMARK MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED
  19. 2011-07-12
    HOOK, Ronald appointed
    director
  20. 2011-07-12
    FOWLE, Richard appointed
    secretary
  21. 2011-07-12
    FOWLE, Richard David appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 low
Multiple registered office changes
low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Ronald Hook
Individual · British · DOB 02/1987 · age 39
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/05/2016

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

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
Incorporated2011-07-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

Waukrigg Mill
Duke Street
Galashiels
TD1 1QD
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-22
Last: 2026-01-08

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

HOOK, Ronald
director · ~39y · appointed 2011-07-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FOWLE, Richard
secretary · appointed 2011-07-12 · resigned 2014-01-09
Resigned
FOWLE, Richard David
director · ~46y · appointed 2011-07-12 · resigned 2014-01-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (44 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-10
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-09-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-07-27
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-07-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-18