ACS OFFICE SOLUTIONS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03467196 · ltd · incorporated 1997-11-18
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46650
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (72/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
65 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-11-30

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-11-26
    ➖
    HARLEY, John resigned
    director
  8. 2020-11-26
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2020-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-11-25
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-01-05
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  17. 1997-11-19
    ➕
    THORPE, Jonathan Paul appointed
    secretary
  18. 1997-11-19
    ➖
    WHITE ROSE FORMATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  19. 1997-11-18
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACS OFFICE SOLUTIONS LIMITED
  20. 1997-11-18
    ➕
    THORPE, Jonathan Paul appointed
    director
  21. 1997-11-18
    ➕
    WHITE ROSE FORMATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 1997-11-18
    ➕
    HARLEY, John appointed
    director

Owner dependency

85/100
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
  • +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.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • 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

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Harley
Individual · British · DOB 03/1954 · age 72
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr Jonathan Paul Thorpe
Individual · British · DOB 03/1969 · age 57
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1997-11-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46650 — SIC 46650

Registered office

22-24 Harborough Road
Kingsthorpe
Northampton
NN2 7AZ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-08-31
Last made up to: 2025-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-22
Last: 2025-11-08

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

THORPE, Jonathan Paul→
secretary · appointed 1997-11-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
THORPE, Jonathan Paul→
director · ~57y · appointed 1997-11-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WHITE ROSE FORMATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-11-18 · resigned 1997-11-19
Resigned
HARLEY, John→
director · ~72y · appointed 1997-11-18 · resigned 2020-11-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (65 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-01-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-08-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-04-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-08-19
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-11-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-11-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-10