FWIW, serial numbers with a low character count tend to be custom or cottage industry frames. Certainly, the bridge tabs (which are huge) indicate something better than your typical mass produced frame. I know very little about Malvern Star, though I'm led to believe they were mass volume. So, I think they could be eliminated, unless they were known to have a separate serial number format for their upper end models, along the lines of Bianchi's Reparto Corse.