ACE CATERING EQUIPMENT LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
08158157 · ltd · incorporated 2012-07-26
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 33200
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 46690Wholesale of other machinery and equipment
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company 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: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
Company profile
address, 2 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
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
39 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.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 500 | 500 |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-18📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2019-12-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-15📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2018-12-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-17📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2018-10-16📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2017-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-14📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2016-09-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2012-07-26🏢Company incorporatedAs ACE CATERING EQUIPMENT LIMITED
- 2012-07-26➕COSTI, Andrew appointeddirector
Owner dependency
88/100
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.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — 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
78/100
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.
- 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
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 Andrew Costi Individual · British · DOB 05/1962 · age 64 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 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 · Manufacturing · BS postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.J. GEORGE REFRIGERATION AND AIR CONDITIONING LIMITED→ 02503428 · est 1990 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 35y | — | — |
| ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES INC LTD→ 13774780 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| AEROSPIKE GAMES LTD→ 16582619 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AESTHETIC DENTAL LABORATORY LIMITED→ 07413947 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| AEUK BATTERY PROJECT II LTD→ 14421795 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AEUK BATTERY PROJECT III LTD→ 14431299 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AFEL LTD→ 16551114 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AG MACHINETECH LTD→ 15878323 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AGIO STUDIO LTD→ 16422384 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AIM INDUSTRIES LTD→ 16779399 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AIR COMPRESSOR DISTRIBUTION LIMITED→ 07571235 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| AIR OPREA SRV LIMITED→ 16246372 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2012-07-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC33200 — SIC 33200
Registered office
69 West Street Old Market
Bristol
BS2 0BX
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-09
Last: 2025-07-26
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
COSTI, Andrew→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2012-07-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (39 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-22
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2019-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-17