ACE EMBROIDERY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
05105874 · ltd · incorporated 2004-04-19
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 May 2025
Net worth
£200
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 1.3y

50/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Newest facility, 1.3 years old — likely still in initial term.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
66 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
65
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £200

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£200
↑ 96% YoY
Current Assets
£180k
↑ 51% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£36k£72k£108k£144k£180kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£86.6k£29.5k
Current assets£179.9k£118.9k
Net assets£200£102

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

1 signal 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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-04-24
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  4. 2025-04-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Meif Ii Smaller Loans Wm LP Acting by Its General Partner Bcrs Meif Ii Gp Limited
  5. 2025-01-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-01-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-02-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-02-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-02-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-01-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-01-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-02-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-05-16
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2016-05-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2016-05-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  17. 2014-02-13
    ➖
    SMART, Ronald Philip resigned
    secretary
  18. 2013-10-31
    ➕
    SMART, Andrea appointed
    director
  19. 2013-10-31
    ➖
    SMART, Ronald Philip resigned
    director
  20. 2004-04-23
    ➕
    SMART, Mathew appointed
    director
  21. 2004-04-23
    ➕
    SMART, Ronald Philip appointed
    secretary
  22. 2004-04-23
    ➕
    SMART, Ronald Philip appointed
    director
  23. 2004-04-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACE EMBROIDERY LIMITED
  24. 2004-04-19
    ➕
    HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2004-04-19
    ➖
    HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2004-04-19
    ➕
    HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  27. 2004-04-19
    ➖
    HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

76/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

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.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

66/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • 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 Mathew Smart
Individual · British · DOB 04/1974 · age 52
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Andrea Smart
Individual · British · DOB 07/1972 · age 54
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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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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2004-04-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

10 Broadwyn Trading Estate
Waterfall Lane
Cradley Heath
B64 6PS
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-03
Last: 2026-04-19

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

SMART, Andrea→
director · ~54y · appointed 2013-10-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMART, Mathew→
director · ~52y · appointed 2004-04-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMART, Ronald Philip→
secretary · appointed 2004-04-23 · resigned 2014-02-13
Resigned
HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-04-19 · resigned 2004-04-19
Resigned
SMART, Ronald Philip→
director · ~80y · appointed 2004-04-23 · resigned 2013-10-31
Resigned
HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-04-19 · resigned 2004-04-19
Resigned

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
TypeProperties
outstanding
Meif Ii Smaller Loans Wm LP Acting by Its General Partner Bcrs Meif Ii Gp
Meif Ii Smaller Loans Wm LP Acting by Its General Partner Bcrs Meif Ii Gp Limited
A registered charge—11/04/2025—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (66 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-05-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-01
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-21