ADC ONLINE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

05053661 · ltd · incorporated 2004-02-24

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

£2.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Information technology consultancy activities

Sector: Information & communication

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

58 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £2,388

Net assets shrinking

Down £261 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£2k

↓ 9.9% YoY

Current Assets

£2k

↓ 65% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-02-28	2024-02-28
Total assets	£2.4k	£2.6k
Current assets	£2.3k	£6.5k
Net assets	£2.4k	£2.6k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand

2025-11-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-11-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-11-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-11-14
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2017-07-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-02-27
📄
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AAMD
2016-11-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-05
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-11-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2004-02-25
➕
CHILDS, Angela Dawn appointed
secretary
2004-02-25
➖
WHITE ROSE FORMATIONS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-02-24
🏢
Company incorporated
As ADC ONLINE LIMITED
2004-02-24
➕
CHILDS, Angela Dawn appointed
director
2004-02-24
➕
CHILDS, Stewart James appointed
director
2004-02-24
➕
WHITE ROSE FORMATIONS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary

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 64 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100

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 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Stewart James Childs Individual · British · DOB 10/1962 · age 64	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒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 →

🔒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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2004-02-24

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC62020 — Information technology consultancy activities

Registered office

46 Addington Road

Irthlingborough

Wellingborough

Northamptonshire

NN9 5ST

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-11-30

Last made up to: 2025-02-28

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-07

Last: 2026-02-21

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

CHILDS, Angela Dawn→

secretary · appointed 2004-02-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CHILDS, Angela Dawn→

director · ~61y · appointed 2004-02-24

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CHILDS, Stewart James→

director · ~64y · appointed 2004-02-24

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

WHITE ROSE FORMATIONS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-02-24 · resigned 2004-02-25

Resigned

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