ACS PLANT & MACHINERY SALES LTD
🌳Matureactive
07174194 · ltd · incorporated 2010-03-02
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£78.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46140
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueAsset-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. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -69% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: high (81/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
42 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 · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £78,582
Cash draining
Cash down 69% YoY
Cash YoY
-69%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£7k
↓ 69% YoY
Net Worth
£79k
↑ 13% YoY
Current Assets
£191k
↓ 34% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £78.6k | £69.6k |
| Current assets | £191.2k | £291.9k |
| Cash | £6.8k | £21.8k |
| Debtors | £184.4k | £102.1k |
| Net assets | £78.6k | £69.6k |
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
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-11📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-11-11📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-11-10📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-11-10📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-11-10📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-11-10📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2021-12-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2010-03-02🏢Company incorporatedAs ACS PLANT & MACHINERY SALES LTD
- 2010-03-02➕BOYD, Caroline appointeddirector
- 2010-03-02➕MURPHY, Andrew John appointeddirector
Owner dependency
81/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
- +No director turnover: Company is 16 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
79/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong 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.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ms Caroline Boyd Individual · British · DOB 11/1971 · age 55 | 50–75% | 50–75% | 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting | 01/01/2017 |
Mr Andrew Murphy Individual · British · DOB 09/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Wholesale & distribution · PO postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 BREWERY LTD→ 16037237 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| A J & M J PLANT (SALES) LIMITED→ 03174481 · est 1996 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 30y | — | — |
| A.A. ADVANTAGE LIMITED→ 04926955 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| A.H.S. (SOUTH EAST) LTD→ 09429186 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| A.P.S. SALADS LIMITED→ 05975348 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| A2Z CONFECTIONERY LTD→ 16353313 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ABGKWI LTD→ 14020725 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ADVANCED ALLOYS LIMITED→ 02271229 · est 1988 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 37y | — | — |
| ADVANCED MEDICAL EQUIPMENT LIMITED→ 04498804 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| AFFINITY SOLAR SOLUTIONS LTD→ 15030988 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AFRO WIGHT LTD→ 15567738 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AGILITA WORKSPACE LIMITED→ 12270886 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2010-03-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46140 — SIC 46140
Registered office
Building 6000 Langstone Technology Park
Havant
PO9 1SA
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-16
Last: 2026-03-02
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
BOYD, Caroline→
Activedirector · ~55y · appointed 2010-03-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
MURPHY, Andrew John→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2010-03-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (42 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-12-31
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-11-11
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-11-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-11-10
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-11-10
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-11-10
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-11-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-15