ACRAL GEARS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
01254913 · ltd · incorporated 1976-04-14
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 49.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of head offices
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 5 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

5 live charges · oldest 49.0y

65/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 49.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
5 charges (5/5 with lender, 5/5 with type)
90
Directors & officers
8 officers (4 active, 8 linked, 6 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
115 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£45k£89k£134k£178k£223kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets—£222.7k
Current assets—£87.0k
Cash—£31.0k
Debtors—£56.0k
Net assets—£222.7k
Average employees300—

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
4
filings
  • • 3 persons-with-significant-control
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-13
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2026-04-13
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  3. 2026-04-13
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  4. 2025-07-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2025-02-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2024-08-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-07-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-08-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-04-12
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2010-11-30
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  17. 2006-04-01
    ➕
    ARCHER, Colin Richard appointed
    secretary
  18. 2006-04-01
    ➖
    ARCHER, Enid Sheila resigned
    secretary
  19. 2006-04-01
    ➖
    ARCHER, Linda resigned
    director
  20. 2005-04-25
    ➖
    ARCHER, Enid Sheila resigned
    director
  21. 2003-06-05
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  22. 1995-01-04
    ➕
    ARCHER, Glenn appointed
    director
  23. 1995-01-04
    ➕
    ARCHER, Enid Sheila appointed
    director
  24. 1995-01-04
    ➖
    ARCHER, Kenneth Albert Leslie resigned
    director
  25. 1994-04-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  26. 1982-03-29
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  27. 1977-06-30
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  28. 1976-04-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACRAL GEARS LIMITED

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 32 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 32 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 50 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

1 low
5 live charges
low

Heavily leveraged with multiple live security positions — understand the capital structure before proceeding.

Shareholders & ownership

3 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Adrian Kenneth Archer
Individual · English · DOB 02/1953 · age 73
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mr Colin Richard Archer
Individual · English · DOB 03/1965 · age 61
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr Glenn Archer
Individual · English · DOB 03/1958 · age 68
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated1976-04-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC70100 — Activities of head offices

Registered office

Unit 1 Crammond Park
Lovet Road
Harlow
Essex
CM19 5TF
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-23
Last: 2026-04-09

Officers (4 active · 4 resigned)

ARCHER, Colin Richard→
secretary · appointed 2006-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ARCHER, Adrian Kenneth→
director · ~73y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ARCHER, Colin Richard→
director · ~61y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ARCHER, Glenn→
director · ~68y · appointed 1995-01-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ARCHER, Enid Sheila→
secretary · resigned 2006-04-01
Resigned
ARCHER, Enid Sheila→
director · ~95y · appointed 1995-01-04 · resigned 2005-04-25
Resigned
ARCHER, Kenneth Albert Leslie→
director · ~95y · resigned 1995-01-04
Resigned
ARCHER, Linda→
director · ~81y · resigned 2006-04-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

5
Total charges
5
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:5 of 5 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property30/11/2010—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property05/06/2003—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Guarantee and debenture1 property18/04/1994—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Guarantee & debenture1 property29/03/1982—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Debenture1 property30/06/1977—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (115 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-09
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-13
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2026-04-13
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2026-04-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-27