ACL EXHIBITIONS LTD

💤Zombieactive
12988660 · ltd · incorporated 2020-11-02
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
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Turnover
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£242.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 18129
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -54% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. 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
15 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
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 · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £242,237
Net assets shrinking
Down £21,501 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 54% YoY
Cash YoY
-54%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£310k
↓ 54% YoY
Net Worth
£242k
↓ 8.2% YoY
Current Assets
£403k
↓ 49% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£157k£313k£470k£626k£783kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-052024-04-05
Total assets£361.7k£263.7k
Current assets£402.5k£783.1k
Cash£309.6k£671.7k
Debtors£92.9k£111.4k
Net assets£242.2k£263.7k

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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (12 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-27
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  2. 2026-01-20
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  3. 2025-07-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-02-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-02-12
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  7. 2023-02-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-10-28
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  9. 2022-10-04
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  10. 2020-11-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACL EXHIBITIONS LTD
  11. 2020-11-02
    LEAL, Andrew Claude appointed
    director
  12. 2020-11-02
    📄
    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 6 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
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.

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 Andrew Claude Leal
Individual · British · DOB 12/1960 · age 66
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control02/11/2020

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

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
Incorporated2020-11-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC18129 — SIC 18129

Registered office

21 Melville Street
Ryde
PO33 2AF
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-05
Last made up to: 2025-04-05
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-15
Last: 2025-11-01

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

LEAL, Andrew Claude
director · ~66y · appointed 2020-11-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (15 total)

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2026-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-26
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2026-01-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-07-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-01-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-02-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-05
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2023-02-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-06
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2022-10-28
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2022-10-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-08
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-11-02