ACRE METALS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
03674420 · ltd · incorporated 1998-11-26
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 38320
Sector: Water supply & waste
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 22.1y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 22.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (77/100)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
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
77 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
55
Some acquirability indicators.
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 · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 6 | 600 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (31 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-07📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2023-04-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-01➖BENSON, Thomas Richard resigneddirector
- 2022-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-07-27📄capital-alter-shares-subdivisioncapital · SH02
- 2021-07-27📄capital-alter-shares-consolidationcapital · SH02
- 2021-07-13📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2021-07-13📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2021-05-27📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2021-05-25➕BENSON, John Angelo appointeddirector
- 2020-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-23📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2019-06-30➖BENSON, Thomas resigneddirector
- 2019-04-03📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2019-04-03📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-03-22➕BENSON, Thomas appointeddirector
- 2019-02-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2004-04-07🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2004-01-30➕BENSON, John Angelo appointedsecretary
- 2004-01-30➖DOYLEY, Fitzroy resignedsecretary
- 1998-11-26🏢Company incorporatedAs ACRE METALS LIMITED
- 1998-11-26➕DOYLEY, Fitzroy appointedsecretary
- 1998-11-26➕FIRST SECRETARIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1998-11-26➖FIRST SECRETARIES LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1998-11-26➕BENSON, Thomas Richard appointeddirector
- 1998-11-26➕FIRST DIRECTORS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 1998-11-26➖FIRST DIRECTORS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
55/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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 John Angelo Benson Individual · British · DOB 08/1971 · age 55 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 25/05/2021 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Thomas Richard Bensonceased 25/05/2021· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A R GAS ENGINEERS LIMITED→ 10935282 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
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| AIRCONCO (UK) LIMITED→ 03523705 · est 1998 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 28y | — | — |
| ALEX AND VANS LTD→ 12260139 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ALLEN & YOUNG LTD→ 05337186 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated1998-11-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC38320 — SIC 38320
Registered office
201 Haverstock Hill
London
NW3 4QG
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-05
Last: 2025-11-21
Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)
BENSON, John Angelo→
Activesecretary · appointed 2004-01-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BENSON, John Angelo→
Activedirector · ~55y · appointed 2021-05-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
DOYLEY, Fitzroy→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1998-11-26 · resigned 2004-01-30
FIRST SECRETARIES LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-11-26 · resigned 1998-11-26
BENSON, Thomas→
Resigneddirector · ~63y · appointed 2019-03-22 · resigned 2019-06-30
BENSON, Thomas Richard→
Resigneddirector · ~86y · appointed 1998-11-26 · resigned 2022-12-01
FIRST DIRECTORS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-11-26 · resigned 1998-11-26
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 | 07/04/2004 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (77 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-14
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-02
capital-alter-shares-subdivision
capital · SH02
2021-07-27
capital-alter-shares-consolidation
capital · SH02
2021-07-27
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-07-13
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2021-07-13