ACER BUSINESS SERVICES LTD

💤Zombieactive
08266115 · ltd · incorporated 2012-10-24
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
£2.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Bookkeeping activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (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 (58/100).

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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 3 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
36 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
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 £2,436

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£2k
Current Assets
£7k
Current Liabilities
—
£0£1k£3k£4k£6k£7kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£2.4k—
Current assets£7.4k—
Net assets£2.4k—

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
3
filings
  • • 2 gazette
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-04
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  2. 2026-03-03
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  3. 2026-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-02-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-08-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-02-11
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  12. 2019-02-11
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  13. 2018-02-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-11-04
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  16. 2016-10-24
    ➖
    RICE, Sebastian Giles resigned
    director
  17. 2014-04-03
    ➕
    RICE, Eleanor Joy appointed
    director
  18. 2014-04-03
    ➖
    HUISH, Nigel Peter resigned
    director
  19. 2012-10-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACER BUSINESS SERVICES LTD
  20. 2012-10-24
    ➕
    HUISH, Nigel Peter appointed
    director
  21. 2012-10-24
    ➕
    RICE, Sebastian Giles appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
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 12 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
Mrs Eleanor Joy Rice
Individual · British · DOB 02/1980 · age 46
75–100%
—75-100% shares24/10/2016

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
Incorporated2012-10-24
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC69202 — Bookkeeping activities

Registered office

12 Broad Walk
Darley Dale
Matlock
DE4 2TT
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-07
Last: 2025-10-24

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

RICE, Eleanor Joy→
director · ~46y · appointed 2014-04-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HUISH, Nigel Peter→
director · ~64y · appointed 2012-10-24 · resigned 2014-04-03
Resigned
RICE, Sebastian Giles→
director · ~45y · appointed 2012-10-24 · resigned 2016-10-24
Resigned

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

Recent filings (36 total)

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2026-03-04
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2026-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-12-02