ACS (BLACKBURN) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04300403 · ltd · incorporated 2001-10-08

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 Oct 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Sector: Administrative & support services

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). 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 (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 23.8y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 23.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

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

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

7 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

60 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

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	2024-10-31	2023-10-31
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

3 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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2025-04-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-07-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-08-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-07-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-08-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-10-09
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-08-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-26
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2014-10-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-08-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2002-08-06
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
2001-10-08
🏢
Company incorporated
As ACS (BLACKBURN) LIMITED
2001-10-08
➕
SHARPLES, Angela Marie appointed
secretary
2001-10-08
➕
SHARPLES, John appointed
director
2001-10-08
➕
HALLMARK SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-10-08
➖
HALLMARK SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-10-08
➕
HALLMARK REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2001-10-08
➖
HALLMARK REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100

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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John Sharples Individual · British · DOB 10/1957 · age 69	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	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 →

Similar companies

Active · Trade services · BB postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
A & G REFRIGERATION LIMITED→ 04565936 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
A FALLON AND SON LTD→ 16207096 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
A HALSTEAD LTD→ 15862721 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ABSOLUTE MARKETING LTD→ 14509228 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
ABSTRACT FURNITURE LIMITED→ 10799716 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
ACCOLADE WORLDWIDE LIMITED→ 13911091 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
ACCRINGTON AERIALS LTD→ 10565065 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
ACORN CHIMNEY SWEEPS LTD→ 04707703 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
ACORNS OF LANCASHIRE ACCRINGTON LIMITED→ 16001465 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ACS CORPORATE MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 09235552 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
ACTIVE ROSES LTD→ 11835194 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
ACUTE CIVIL ENGINEERING LIMITED→ 10464304 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—

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

Incorporated2001-10-08

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Lancashire Digital Technology Centre

Bancroft Road

Burnley

Lancashire

BB10 2TP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-22

Last: 2025-10-08

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

SHARPLES, Angela Marie→

secretary · appointed 2001-10-08

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SHARPLES, John→

director · ~69y · appointed 2001-10-08

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HALLMARK SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-10-08 · resigned 2001-10-08

Resigned

HALLMARK REGISTRARS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-10-08 · resigned 2001-10-08

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	06/08/2002	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.