{"name":"READ BURTON LIMITED","company_number":"01003014","status":"Liquidation","type":"Private Limited Company","incorporated":"1971-02-22","dissolved":null,"registered_office":"C/O Frp Advisory Trading Limited Derby House, 12 Winckley Square, Preston, PR1 3JJ","postcode":"PR1 3JJ","sic_codes":[{"code":45111,"description":"Sale of new cars and light motor vehicles"},{"code":45112,"description":"Sale of used cars and light motor vehicles"},{"code":45200,"description":"Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles"},{"code":45320,"description":"Retail trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories"}],"principal_activity":"The principal activity of the company is that of a motor dealership and garage proprietor.","previous_names":[{"name":"T.L. DARBY LIMITED","changed_on":"2025-06-03"}],"warnings":["The annual accounts for this company are overdue."],"accounts":{"category":"Full","year_end":"30 December","last_made_up_to":"2024-12-31","next_due":"2026-09-30"},"employees":{"count":33,"accounts_date":"2024-12-31"},"financials":[{"financial_date":"2024-12-31","turnover":24222502,"profit_loss":-687072,"net_assets":-276046,"cash":110,"average_employees":33},{"financial_date":"2023-12-31","turnover":37399944,"profit_loss":-392055,"net_assets":906181,"cash":103,"average_employees":47},{"financial_date":"2022-12-31","turnover":46012322,"net_assets":1380776,"cash":239718},{"financial_date":"2020-12-31","net_assets":1302428,"cash":303327},{"financial_date":"2020-06-30","net_assets":1229701,"cash":50}],"officers":{"current":3,"resigned":10,"complete":true,"note":"Names and details of individual officers are on the People page (subscriber-only on this site) and free at Companies House."},"charges":{"total":7,"outstanding":6},"gazette_notices":[{"date":"2026-08-10","kind":"other"}],"insolvency_outcome":null,"ai_summary":"Read Burton Limited is a sub-scale, single-franchise UK motor retailer whose 2024 results — turnover down 35% to £24.2m, an £800k net loss, negative shareholders' funds of £313k and cash of just £110 — represent a severe underperformance against sector norms of 1–2% net margins and positive, if thin, equity. The decline is company-specific rather than cyclical: the UK new car market grew modestly in 2024, so the revenue collapse reflects the March 2024 ownership change and the Volkswagen-to-Hyundai franchise switch executed without the balance-sheet headroom to fund a multi-year transition. With the company now in liquidation and FRP Advisory installed at the registered office, the case illustrates the structural vulnerability of independent dealers to franchise disruption, floorplan cost inflation and EV residual-value volatility in a consolidating market.","website":"https://www.read-motorgroup.co.uk/hyundai/contact-us/read-hyundai-burton/","links":{"page":"https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/read-burton","people":"https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/company/read-burton/people","filing_history":"https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/company/read-burton/filing-history","companies_house":"https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/01003014","financials":"https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/company/read-burton/financial","gazette":"https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/company/read-burton/gazette","control":"https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/company/read-burton/control","charges":"https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/company/read-burton/charges","ai_analysis":"https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/company/read-burton/analysis"},"source":"CompaniesInTheUK, from Companies House, The Gazette and other public registers (see /support/about). Cite as: CompaniesInTheUK, https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/read-burton"}