ACE GENERAL ENGINEERING (CORNWALL) LTD

🌳Matureactive

02876747 · ltd · incorporated 1993-12-01

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Dec 2024

Net worth

£181.8k

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -66% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 23.1y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 23.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

11 officers (5 active, 11 linked, 6 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

100 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

83/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £181,818

Net assets shrinking

Down £128,932 YoY

Cash draining

Cash down 66% YoY

Cash YoY

-66%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£19k

↓ 66% YoY

Net Worth

£182k

↓ 41% YoY

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Cash	£19.2k	£56.8k
Net assets	£181.8k	£310.8k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (38 events)Click to expand

2025-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-25
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2025-09-25
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2025-03-20
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-12-13
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-09-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-21
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-09-21
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-09-21
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2024-09-21
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-09-18
📄
capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-shares
capital · SH10
2024-09-18
📄
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2024-08-28
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-01-05
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-01-05
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-01-01
➕
STEPHENS, Aaron John appointed
director
2024-01-01
➕
STEPHENS, Nick David appointed
director
2023-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2007-03-07
➕
STEPHENS, Janette appointed
director
2007-01-04
➕
STEPHENS, Janette appointed
secretary
2007-01-04
➖
HAGUE, Harold Alwyn resigned
secretary
2007-01-04
➖
ARBUTHNOTT, Dennis Michael resigned
director
2007-01-04
➖
ARBUTHNOTT, Mary Ann Marian resigned
director
2003-03-26
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
1995-06-01
➕
STEPHENS, David appointed
director
1995-04-12
➖
ARBUTHNOTT, Mary Ann Marian resigned
secretary
1995-04-12
➕
HAGUE, Harold Alwyn appointed
secretary
1993-12-01
🏢
Company incorporated
As ACE GENERAL ENGINEERING (CORNWALL) LTD
1993-12-01
➕
ARBUTHNOTT, Mary Ann Marian appointed
secretary
1993-12-01
➕
LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1993-12-01
➖
LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1993-12-01
➕
ARBUTHNOTT, Dennis Michael appointed
director
1993-12-01
➕
ARBUTHNOTT, Mary Ann Marian appointed
director
1993-12-01
➕
LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
1993-12-01
➖
LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

66/100

High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS

-4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

20/100

No succession signal

No meaningful acquirability indicators from public data.

SIGNALS

primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — STEPHENS, Aaron John (same surname) appointed 2024-01-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr David Stephens Individual · British · DOB 01/1964 · age 62	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mr David Stephensceased 03/09/2024· 25-50% shares

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 →

Similar companies

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ADAM WHEELER MINING CONSULTANT LTD→ 11400992 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
AESC WORKSHOPS LTD→ 17112864 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AFFINA MARINE LTD→ 05580986 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
AFRIK MINING CONSULTANTS LIMITED→ 16987514 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ANKOR CORNWALL LIMITED→ 11702334 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
ARCHWAY PLASTIC BUILDERS LTD→ 16850580 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ARCOL U.K. LIMITED→ 00503996 · est 1952 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	74y	—	—
ARCTIC WOLF GAMES LTD→ 13183331 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
ARESU & LAMBERT-GORWYN LTD→ 16767242 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ARKUS LIMITED→ 10180150 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1993-12-01

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC25110 — Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures

Registered office

Quarry Park Road

Newquay

Cornwall

TR7 2NY

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-16

Last: 2025-12-02