ACER CONTROL SYSTEMS LTD

💤Zombieactive
05847324 · ltd · incorporated 2006-06-15
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£79.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Information technology consultancy activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (75/100)

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
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
59 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £79,704
Net assets shrinking
Down £53,264 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£80k
↓ 40% YoY
Current Assets
£107k
↓ 55% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£48k£95k£143k£191k£238kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£81.6k£134.8k
Current assets£107.3k£238.4k
Net assets£79.7k£133.0k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-09-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-11-20
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  8. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-10-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2018-10-16
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  11. 2018-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-07-26
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2016-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-07-30
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2013-01-01
    ➖
    FISHER, Stephen Paul resigned
    secretary
  17. 2006-06-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACER CONTROL SYSTEMS LTD
  18. 2006-06-15
    ➕
    OLD, Graeme appointed
    director
  19. 2006-06-15
    ➕
    FISHER, Stephen Paul appointed
    secretary
  20. 2006-06-15
    ➕
    CENTRAL SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  21. 2006-06-15
    ➖
    CENTRAL SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2006-06-15
    ➕
    CENTRAL DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director
  23. 2006-06-15
    ➖
    CENTRAL DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

85/100
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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Graeme Old
Individual · British · DOB 05/1975 · age 51
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/07/2016

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

7 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
Incorporated2006-06-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC62020 — Information technology consultancy activities

Registered office

Althorpe Enterprise Hub
Althorpe Street
Leamington Spa
CV31 2GB
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-29
Last: 2026-06-15

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

OLD, Graeme→
director · ~51y · appointed 2006-06-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FISHER, Stephen Paul→
secretary · appointed 2006-06-15 · resigned 2013-01-01
Resigned
CENTRAL SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2006-06-15 · resigned 2006-06-15
Resigned
CENTRAL DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2006-06-15 · resigned 2006-06-15
Resigned

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

Recent filings (59 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-07-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-08
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2019-11-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-30