ACE TRACK (U.K.) LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
02986112 · ltd · incorporated 1994-11-02
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Nov 2024
Net worth
£-302.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 22290
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 82). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
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
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
85 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 · accounting standard not declaredNegative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £302,516
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£303k
↓ 2.2% YoY
Current Assets
£10k
↑ 9.1% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-11-30 | 2023-11-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-302.5k | £-295.9k |
| Current assets | £10.4k | £9.5k |
| Debtors | £5.4k | £4.5k |
| Net assets | £-302.5k | £-295.9k |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-07-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-20➕HOFSTEDT, Karl Einar-Lewis appointedsecretary
- 2018-08-20➖HARRIS, Raymond Hedley resignedsecretary
- 2018-08-20📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2018-08-20📄appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP03
- 2017-08-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-09📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-08-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-12-02📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2006-12-22➖HOFSTEDT, Karl Einar Lewis resignedsecretary
- 2006-11-30➕HARRIS, Raymond Hedley appointedsecretary
- 2002-10-25➖NAYLOR, Frank resigneddirector
- 1996-01-08➕NAYLOR, Frank appointeddirector
- 1994-11-02🏢Company incorporatedAs ACE TRACK (U.K.) LIMITED
- 1994-11-02➕HOFSTEDT, Karl Einar Lewis appointeddirector
- 1994-11-02➕HOFSTEDT, Karl Einar Lewis appointedsecretary
- 1994-11-02➕WING, Clifford Donald appointedsecretary
- 1994-11-02➖WING, Clifford Donald resignedsecretary
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 32 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 82 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
100/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 82 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 32 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 32 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
cleanNo 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 Karl Einar Lewis Hofstedt Individual · British · DOB 10/1944 · age 82 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 30/06/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AG SURFACE REPAIR SPECIALIST LTD→ 13905545 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| AIR SPECTRUM INTERNATIONAL LIMITED→ 10494291 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ALLEN HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING LIMITED→ 04851418 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| ANGELA KERR DESIGNS LIMITED→ 13988226 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ANIMATE DESIGN LIMITED→ 05537717 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| ARP FULFILMENT LTD→ 15962663 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ARTWORKS CLOTHING LTD→ 13631515 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ATALANTA MOTOR CARS LIMITED→ 06882099 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| AUDIO DEFINITION LIMITED→ 05842241 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| AUTO DYNAMIC POSITIONING SERVICES LTD→ 12968476 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| AUTO-SLEEPERS GROUP LIMITED→ 03978237 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated1994-11-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC22290 — SIC 22290
Registered office
Thorneloe House
25 Barbourne Road
Worcester
Worcestershire
WR1 1RU
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-15
Last: 2025-11-01
Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)
HOFSTEDT, Karl Einar-Lewis→
Activesecretary · appointed 2018-08-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HOFSTEDT, Karl Einar Lewis→
Activedirector · ~82y · appointed 1994-11-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HARRIS, Raymond Hedley→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2006-11-30 · resigned 2018-08-20
HOFSTEDT, Karl Einar Lewis→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1994-11-02 · resigned 2006-12-22
WING, Clifford Donald→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1994-11-02 · resigned 1994-11-02
NAYLOR, Frank→
Resigneddirector · ~91y · appointed 1996-01-08 · resigned 2002-10-25
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (85 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-08-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-07-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-08-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-07-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-08-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-11-07