ACE OF SPADES GARDENS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
07240377 · ltd · incorporated 2010-04-30
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£134.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 02100
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with exceptional profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
37 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 · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £134,854
Cash YoY
-13%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£78k
↓ 13% YoY
Net Worth
£135k
↑ 47% YoY
Current Assets
£149k
↑ 18% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £150.8k | £103.3k |
| Current assets | £148.6k | £126.3k |
| Cash | £78.3k | £89.9k |
| Debtors | £66.4k | £32.1k |
| Net assets | £134.9k | £91.5k |
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 (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-05-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-22📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2023-10-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-27📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-12-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-29📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-12-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-02-24📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2016-10-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-10📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2010-04-30🏢Company incorporatedAs ACE OF SPADES GARDENS LIMITED
- 2010-04-30➕BARKER, Michael appointeddirector
Owner dependency
98/100
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
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — 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
78/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- 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
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Michael James Barker Individual · British · DOB 07/1968 · age 58 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 25/03/2017 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Agriculture · NR postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 LITTLE BIRDS NURSERIES LTD→ 17110454 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| A & R THORNTON FARMING LTD→ 14862339 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| A. CLARK (TRUNCH) LIMITED→ 00975389 · est 1970 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 56y | — | — |
| A. FARRELL CONTRACTING LTD→ 11764597 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| A.& E.COOKE(FARMERS)LIMITED→ 00421127 · est 1946 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 79y | — | — |
| A.G. DREW ELECTRICAL LIMITED→ 07399958 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| A.H. SLATER & CO. LIMITED→ 01158577 · est 1974 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 52y | — | — |
| A.J. MCCALLUM LIMITED→ 04941743 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| A.J. SHORTEN LIMITED→ 01517079 · est 1980 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 45y | — | — |
| AD FEEDSTOCK LTD→ 09474868 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ADA COLE MEMORIAL STABLES→ 00669070 · est 1960 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 65y | — | — |
| ADAMS & HOWLING LIMITED→ 01076707 · est 1972 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 53y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2010-04-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC02100 — SIC 02100
Registered office
Unit 10 Aylsham Business Park Richard Oakes Road
Aylsham
Norwich
Norfolk
NR11 6FD
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-25
Last: 2026-04-11
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
BARKER, Michael→
Activedirector · ~58y · appointed 2010-04-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (37 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-21
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-24