A C LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04968586 · ltd · incorporated 2003-11-18
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Feb 2025
Net worth
£47.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of patent and copyright agents; other legal activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
64 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 · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £47,022
Net assets shrinking
Down £3,114 YoY
Cash YoY
+283%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£59k
↑ 283% YoY
Net Worth
£47k
↓ 6.2% YoY
Current Assets
£400k
↑ 167% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£80k£160k£240k£320k£400kFeb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-02-282024-02-29
Total assets£47.0k£85.9k
Current assets£400.2k£150.0k
Cash£58.6k£15.3k
Debtors£341.6k£134.7k
Net assets£47.0k£50.1k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-01
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  3. 2025-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-02-04
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  5. 2024-04-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-05-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-02-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-09-13
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  14. 2016-09-13
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  15. 2016-09-01
    ➕
    CUSTANCE, Patricia appointed
    director
  16. 2016-09-01
    ➖
    CUSTANCE, Patricia resigned
    secretary
  17. 2016-08-03
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  18. 2003-11-18
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A C LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED
  19. 2003-11-18
    ➕
    CUSTANCE, Adam appointed
    director
  20. 2003-11-18
    ➕
    CUSTANCE, Patricia appointed
    secretary
  21. 2003-11-18
    ➕
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2003-11-18
    ➖
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2003-11-18
    ➕
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2003-11-18
    ➖
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

84/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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 Adam Custance
Individual · British · DOB 05/1966 · age 60
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Patricia Custance
Individual · British · DOB 04/1967 · age 59
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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🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2003-11-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC69109 — Activities of patent and copyright agents; other legal activities

Registered office

83 Coniscliffe Road
Darlington
DL3 7EH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-02
Last: 2025-11-18

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

CUSTANCE, Adam→
director · ~60y · appointed 2003-11-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CUSTANCE, Patricia→
director · ~59y · appointed 2016-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CUSTANCE, Patricia→
secretary · appointed 2003-11-18 · resigned 2016-09-01
Resigned
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-11-18 · resigned 2003-11-18
Resigned
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-11-18 · resigned 2003-11-18
Resigned

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

Recent filings (64 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-03-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-04
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-03-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-02-28
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-02-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-28