ACO (STOKE ON TRENT) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
09196034 · ltd · incorporated 2014-08-30
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
£109
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
Asset-holding vehicle with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -60% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. 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
25 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 £109
Net assets shrinking
Down £14,370 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 60% YoY
Cash YoY
-60%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£9k
↓ 60% YoY
Net Worth
£109
↓ 99% YoY
Current Assets
£9k
Current Liabilities
—
£0£5k£9k£14k£18k£23kAug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Total assets£109£14.5k
Current assets£9.3k—
Cash£9.0k£22.6k
Debtors£308—
Net assets£109£14.5k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-09-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2023-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-07-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-01-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2017-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-11-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-08-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACO (STOKE ON TRENT) LIMITED
  16. 2014-08-30
    ➕
    GARDINER, Alan appointed
    director
  17. 2014-08-30
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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 Gardiner
Individual · British · DOB 04/1960 · age 66
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated2014-08-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

Riverside
Mountbatten Way
Congleton
Cheshire
CW12 1DY
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-13
Last: 2025-08-30

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

GARDINER, Alan→
director · ~66y · appointed 2014-08-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (25 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-27
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-30