ACE CREATE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05902096 · ltd · incorporated 2006-08-10
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
£-7.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other photographic activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 73/100 (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: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -66% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
56 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
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
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £7,736
Cash draining
Cash down 66% YoY
Cash YoY
-66%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£340
↓ 66% YoY
Net Worth
-£8k
↓ 21% YoY
Current Assets
£381
↓ 63% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£8k-£6k-£4k-£2k-£713£1kAug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Total assets£-7.7k£-6.4k
Current assets£381£1.0k
Cash£340£1.0k
Debtors£41£41
Net assets£-7.7k£-6.4k

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
3
filings
  • 2 officers
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • 2 officers
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-06-18
    DEAN, Philip Michael, Dr resigned
    secretary
  2. 2026-06-18
    DEAN, Philip Michael, Dr resigned
    director
  3. 2026-06-18
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2026-06-18
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  5. 2026-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2025-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2023-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-07-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-05-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-11-03
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  14. 2018-10-30
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  15. 2018-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-05-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2006-08-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACE CREATE LIMITED
  19. 2006-08-10
    DEAN, Laurence James Philip appointed
    director
  20. 2006-08-10
    DEAN, Philip Michael, Dr appointed
    secretary
  21. 2006-08-10
    DEAN, Philip Michael, Dr appointed
    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

68/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years.
  • 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

1 med ·
2 director resignations in last 12 months
medium

Multiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.

Evidence: DEAN, Philip Michael, Dr resigned 2026-06-18; DEAN, Philip Michael, Dr resigned 2026-06-18

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Laurence James Philip Dean
Individual · British · DOB 05/1978 · age 48
75100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence01/07/2016

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

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
Incorporated2006-08-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC74209 — Other photographic activities

Registered office

5 - 9 Eden Street
Kingston Upon Thames
Surrey
KT1 1BQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-24
Last: 2025-08-10

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

DEAN, Laurence James Philip
director · ~48y · appointed 2006-08-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DEAN, Philip Michael, Dr
secretary · appointed 2006-08-10 · resigned 2026-06-18
Resigned
DEAN, Philip Michael, Dr
director · ~82y · appointed 2006-08-10 · resigned 2026-06-18
Resigned

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

Recent filings (56 total)

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-06-18
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2026-06-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-07-24