ACCOUNTANCY RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
03372641 · ltd · incorporated 1997-05-19
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other activities of employment placement agencies
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 14.3y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 14.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
87 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 600 | 600 |
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
4
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 capital
Last 90 days
4
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 capital
Last 180 days
4
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 capital
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-18📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2026-05-14➖BERRY, Anthony Leigh Rainford resigneddirector
- 2026-05-14📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2026-05-14📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2025-06-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-08📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-11-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-11-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-24📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2021-11-24📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-05-14📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-05-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-25📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2012-02-06🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 1997-05-19🏢Company incorporatedAs ACCOUNTANCY RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS LIMITED
- 1997-05-19➕HUGHES, Clair appointedsecretary
- 1997-05-19➕HUGHES, Clair appointeddirector
- 1997-05-19➕WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1997-05-19➖WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1997-05-19➕BERRY, Anthony Leigh Rainford appointeddirector
- 1997-05-19➕WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 1997-05-19➖WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
93/100
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 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
85/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Clair Hughes Individual · British · DOB 11/1965 · age 61 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Anthony Leigh Rainford Berryceased 14/05/2026· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| A C TUCKER & CO LIMITED→ 06004170 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
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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.
See pricing →Company details
Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1997-05-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC78109 — Other activities of employment placement agencies
Registered office
Second Floor
3 Liverpool Gardens
Worthing
BN11 1TF
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-02
Last: 2026-05-19
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
Active
HUGHES, Clair→
Activedirector · ~61y · appointed 1997-05-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-05-19 · resigned 1997-05-19
BERRY, Anthony Leigh Rainford→
Resigneddirector · ~67y · appointed 1997-05-19 · resigned 2026-05-14
WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 1997-05-19 · resigned 1997-05-19
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 06/02/2012 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (87 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-19
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-05-18
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2026-05-14
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-05-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-20
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-11-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-23