ACIS UNDERWRITING AGENCIES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04778918 · ltd · incorporated 2003-05-28
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Sept 2025
Net worth
£831.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-life insurance
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 78). 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).

Data confidence

Overall: high (86/100)

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

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed
95
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
9 officers (2 active, 9 linked, 4 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
8 connected companies via shared directors
69
Filing history
73 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £831,817
Cash YoY
+5%
Year on year

Key financials

3 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£737k
↑ 4.7% YoY
Net Worth
£832k
↑ 22% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£166k£333k£499k£665k£832kSept 2023Sept 2024Sept 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-09-302024-09-302023-09-30
Cash£737.4k£704.5k£606.4k
Net assets£831.8k£679.1k£565.2k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-06-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-08-17
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  8. 2020-08-17
    ✏️
    change-of-name-notice
    change-of-name · CONNOT
  9. 2020-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-04-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-05-30
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  12. 2018-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-06-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-23
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2013-12-31
    ➖
    SNEDDEN, Ralph Cameron resigned
    director
  17. 2013-04-12
    ➖
    SNEDDEN, Katherine Anne Cameron resigned
    secretary
  18. 2013-04-01
    ➕
    SIMPSON, Victoria Elizabeth appointed
    secretary
  19. 2007-08-10
    ➖
    ODDY, Peter George resigned
    director
  20. 2007-08-07
    ➖
    HOOPER, Graham Robert resigned
    director
  21. 2007-02-21
    ➖
    HUGHES, Victoria Elizabeth resigned
    secretary
  22. 2007-02-21
    ➕
    SNEDDEN, Katherine Anne Cameron appointed
    secretary
  23. 2004-05-13
    ➕
    SNEDDEN, Ralph Cameron appointed
    director
  24. 2003-09-01
    ➕
    HOOPER, Graham Robert appointed
    director
  25. 2003-09-01
    ➕
    ODDY, Peter George appointed
    director
  26. 2003-05-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACIS UNDERWRITING AGENCIES LIMITED
  27. 2003-05-28
    ➕
    HUGHES, Kevin Barry appointed
    director
  28. 2003-05-28
    ➕
    HUGHES, Victoria Elizabeth appointed
    secretary
  29. 2003-05-28
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  30. 2003-05-28
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  31. 2003-05-28
    ➕
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  32. 2003-05-28
    ➖
    INSTANT COMPANIES 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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Kevin Barry Hughes
Individual · British · DOB 05/1948 · age 78
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/07/2016
Mr Kevin Barry Hughes
Individual · British · DOB 05/1948 · age 78
——sig. influencesignificant influence01/06/2017

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

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
Incorporated2003-05-28
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC65120 — Non-life insurance

Registered office

8 Northumberland Gardens
Bromley
Kent
BR1 2XD

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-11
Last: 2026-05-28

Officers (2 active · 7 resigned)

SIMPSON, Victoria Elizabeth→
secretary · appointed 2013-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HUGHES, Kevin Barry→
director · ~78y · appointed 2003-05-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HUGHES, Victoria Elizabeth→
secretary · appointed 2003-05-28 · resigned 2007-02-21
Resigned
SNEDDEN, Katherine Anne Cameron→
secretary · appointed 2007-02-21 · resigned 2013-04-12
Resigned
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-05-28 · resigned 2003-05-28
Resigned
HOOPER, Graham Robert→
director · ~60y · appointed 2003-09-01 · resigned 2007-08-07
Resigned
ODDY, Peter George→
director · ~77y · appointed 2003-09-01 · resigned 2007-08-10
Resigned
SNEDDEN, Ralph Cameron→
director · ~79y · appointed 2004-05-13 · resigned 2013-12-31
Resigned
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-05-28 · resigned 2003-05-28
Resigned

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

Recent filings (73 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-02
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2020-08-17
change-of-name-notice
change-of-name · CONNOT
2020-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-29