ACTS (SPALDING) LTD

💤Zombieactive
08025468 · ltd · incorporated 2012-04-11
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£20.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Freight transport by road
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (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: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
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
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
31 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
70
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 declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £20,260

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£20k
↑ 12% YoY
Current Assets
£4k
↓ 7.1% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£4k£8k£12k£16k£20kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£20.3k£18.0k
Current assets£3.9k£4.2k
Net assets£20.3k£18.0k

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

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 (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-01-07
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2021-06-30
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  8. 2021-06-29
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  9. 2021-01-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-01-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-01-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-01-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-05-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2016-01-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2012-04-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACTS (SPALDING) LTD
  17. 2012-04-11
    ➕
    CAWTHORNE, Alan Rodney appointed
    director

Owner dependency

88/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. 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 14 years.
  • 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 Alan Rodney Cawthorne
Individual · British · DOB 06/1965 · age 61
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2012-04-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

9 Cross Street
Holbeach
Spalding
PE12 7DW
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-25
Last: 2026-04-11

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CAWTHORNE, Alan Rodney→
director · ~61y · appointed 2012-04-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (31 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-08
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-01-07
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2021-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-29
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2021-06-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-01-18