ACRE PACKAGING SUPPLIES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
01749004 · ltd · incorporated 1983-08-31
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.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jan 2026
Net worth
£166.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
105 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
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 £166,081

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£166k
↑ 4.3% YoY
Current Assets
£187k
↓ 3.3% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£39k£78k£116k£155k£194kJan 2025Jan 2026

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2026-01-312025-01-31
Total assets£208.5k£211.5k
Current assets£187.5k£193.8k
Net assets£166.1k£159.2k

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
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-03-08
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2020-03-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-03-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-02-27
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  11. 2018-03-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-03-05
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2018-03-05
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2017-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2006-08-18
    ➖
    MOUNTFORD, Gerald Kenneth resigned
    director
  17. 2006-07-19
    ➕
    SPENCER, Gillian Margaret appointed
    secretary
  18. 2006-07-19
    ➕
    SPENCER, Gillian Margaret appointed
    director
  19. 2006-07-19
    ➖
    SPENCER, John Ian resigned
    secretary
  20. 1999-04-06
    ➖
    MANN, David Earl resigned
    director
  21. 1999-02-22
    ➖
    MANN, David Earl resigned
    secretary
  22. 1999-02-22
    ➕
    SPENCER, John Ian appointed
    secretary
  23. 1993-09-01
    ➕
    SPENCER, John Ian appointed
    director
  24. 1983-08-31
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACRE PACKAGING SUPPLIES LIMITED

Owner dependency

84/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 33 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
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 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 33 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 43 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
John Ian Spencer
Individual · British · DOB 10/1962 · age 64
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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

6 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
Incorporated1983-08-31
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade

Registered office

Unit 17 Kepler, Lichfield Road Industrial Estate
Tamworth
Staffordshire
B79 7XE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-10-31
Last made up to: 2026-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-16
Last: 2026-03-02

Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)

SPENCER, Gillian Margaret→
secretary · appointed 2006-07-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SPENCER, Gillian Margaret→
director · ~64y · appointed 2006-07-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SPENCER, John Ian→
director · ~64y · appointed 1993-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MANN, David Earl→
secretary · resigned 1999-02-22
Resigned
SPENCER, John Ian→
secretary · appointed 1999-02-22 · resigned 2006-07-19
Resigned
MANN, David Earl→
director · ~87y · resigned 1999-04-06
Resigned
MOUNTFORD, Gerald Kenneth→
director · ~80y · resigned 2006-08-18
Resigned

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

Recent filings (105 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-04-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-08
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-03-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-02