ACJ CRANES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
12258000 · ltd · incorporated 2019-10-12
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 Oct 2024
Net worth
£1
book net assets
Opportunity
68/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

What this business does
Primary activity: Renting and leasing of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed professional-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 68/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
17 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
68/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
55
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £1

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£1
~ YoY
Current Assets
£1
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£1£1£1Oct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31
Total assets£1£1
Current assets£1£1
Net assets£1£1

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
2
filings
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 officers
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (13 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-09
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2026-04-09
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-03-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-07-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-12-16
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2020-11-17
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2020-10-29
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2019-10-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACJ CRANES LIMITED
  12. 2019-10-12
    BENNION, Alan Michael appointed
    director
  13. 2019-10-12
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 62 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 7 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-05-25

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alan Michael Bennion
Individual · British · DOB 01/1964 · age 62
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control12/10/2019

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 · Professional services · SO postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
ACCOUNTANCY CONNECT LTD
14874801 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
2y
ACCOUNTING HUT (ROMSEY) LIMITED
14702692 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
3y
ACCOUNTING INNOVATIONS LIMITED
05655371 · est 2005 · no financials extracted
20y
ACCOUNTING SERVICES (NEW FOREST) LIMITED
04834196 · est 2003 · no financials extracted
22y
ACCOUNTINGHUT GROUP LIMITED
14543621 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
3y
ACCOUNTS & TRADE MANAGEMENT LIMITED
06545251 · est 2008 · no financials extracted
18y
ACCOUNTSHARE LIMITED
07491149 · est 2011 · no financials extracted
15y
ACCURACY INVESTMENTS LIMITED
02822962 · est 1993 · no financials extracted
32y
ACE BLUEJAY LTD
08967517 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
12y
ACEE LTD
15802024 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
1y
ACH LEGAL LIMITED
07168962 · est 2010 · no financials extracted
16y
ACJ PLANT HIRE LIMITED
13393093 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
4y
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
Incorporated2019-10-12
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC77320 — Renting and leasing of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment

Registered office

Unit 10, The Sidings Hound Road
Netley Abbey
Southampton
Hampshire
SO31 5QA
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-25OVERDUE
Last: 2025-05-11

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

BENNION, Alan Michael
director · ~62y · appointed 2019-10-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (17 total)

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-09
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-11
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-11
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-07
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-12-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-11-17