ACN TRADING LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

03298216 · ltd · incorporated 1997-01-01

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

approaching window · 12-months

Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.

· Oldest live charge 16.8y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 74). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 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

1 live charge · oldest 16.8y

65/100

clean up first

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

· Oldest live charge is 16.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 30/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (58/100)

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

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

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

Directors & officers

17 officers (5 active, 17 linked, 12 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

5 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

99 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.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (49 events)Click to expand

2026-02-05
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-01
➖
HULL, Caroline, Dr resigned
director
2026-01-29
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-08-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2025-01-20
➕
NGEGBA, Tamba Emmanuel Mansa appointed
secretary
2025-01-20
➖
SHELDON, Simon James resigned
secretary
2025-01-20
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2025-01-20
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-05-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2023-10-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2022-09-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2022-05-25
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-05-25
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2022-05-25
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-05-25
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2022-05-25
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-05-25
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-04-26
➕
HULL, Caroline, Dr appointed
secretary
2022-04-26
➖
HULL, Caroline, Dr resigned
secretary
2022-04-11
➕
HULL, Caroline Susan, Dr appointed
director
2022-04-11
➕
HULL, Caroline, Dr appointed
director
2022-04-11
➖
KYRKE-SMITH, Neville St Leger resigned
director
2022-04-11
➖
WILLERS, Colette resigned
director
2022-01-25
➕
DOLAN, Sophie appointed
director
2022-01-13
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2020-10-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2019-07-31
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2019-07-23
➕
HATTON, Patricia Catherine appointed
director
2019-07-23
➖
KYRKE-SMITH, Neville St Leger resigned
secretary
2019-07-23
➕
SHELDON, Simon James appointed
secretary
2019-07-23
➖
HUTTON, Graham Stuart resigned
director
2019-07-23
➕
KYRKE-SMITH, Neville St Leger appointed
director
2019-07-23
➖
MARSDEN, John Paul resigned
director
2019-07-23
➕
WILLERS, Colette appointed
director
2015-01-27
➕
MARSDEN, John Paul appointed
director
2014-12-04
➖
MORTON, Paul, Reverend resigned
director
2013-07-16
➕
MORTON, Paul, Reverend appointed
director
2013-07-16
➖
SEFTON-WILLIAMS, Peter resigned
director
2009-07-21
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Aid to the Church in Need (United Kingdom)
2009-01-27
➕
HEREN, Patrick Anthony Francis appointed
director
2006-01-01
➕
HUTTON, Graham Stuart appointed
director
2005-12-31
➖
ZU LOEWENSTEIN-WERTHEM-FREUDENBERG, Rupert, Prince resigned
director
1997-01-01
🏢
Company incorporated
As ACN TRADING LIMITED
1997-01-01
➕
CHARGE, Colin Frederick appointed
secretary
1997-01-01
➖
CHARGE, Colin Frederick resigned
secretary
1997-01-01
➕
KYRKE-SMITH, Neville St Leger appointed
secretary
1997-01-01
➕
SEFTON-WILLIAMS, Peter appointed
director
1997-01-01
➕
ZU LOEWENSTEIN-WERTHEM-FREUDENBERG, Rupert, Prince appointed
director

Owner dependency

65/100

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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

73/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
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.)

Group structure

Aid To The Church In Need (United Kingdom) is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Aid To The Church In Need (United Kingdom)

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

ACN TRADING LIMITED

This company · 03298216

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Aid To The Church In Need (United Kingdom) Corporate entity	75–100%	—	75-100% shares · trust interest	06/04/2016

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

7 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

Incorporated1997-01-01

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC47990 — Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets

Registered office

Benhill House, 12-14 Benhill

Avenue, Sutton

Surrey

SM1 4DA

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-15

Last: 2026-01-01