ACL DOCUMENT SERVICES LTD

🌿Early-stageactive
14753240 · ltd · incorporated 2023-03-23
Investment thesis
Growth-phase business — story-led; valuation sensitive to momentum.
Why interesting: Trading is scaling; acquirers paying for trajectory get disproportionate leverage.
Why risky: Price often leads fundamentals; dependency on founder often high.
🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Photocopying, document preparation and other specialised office support activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and acceptable with review structure.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
6 filings
60
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
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
75
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 accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (6 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-03-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACL DOCUMENT SERVICES LTD
  4. 2023-03-23
    CUSTANCE, Adam appointed
    director
  5. 2023-03-23
    CUSTANCE, Patricia appointed
    director
  6. 2023-03-23
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

74/100
High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

46/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.

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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Adam Custance
Individual · British · DOB 05/1966 · age 60
2550%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control23/03/2023
Mrs Patricia Custance
Individual · British · DOB 04/1967 · age 59
2550%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control23/03/2023

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.

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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.

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🔒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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2023-03-23
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC82190 — Photocopying, document preparation and other specialised office support activities

Registered office

83 Coniscliffe Road
Darlington
DL3 7EH
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-05
Last: 2026-03-22

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

CUSTANCE, Adam
director · ~60y · appointed 2023-03-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CUSTANCE, Patricia
director · ~59y · appointed 2023-03-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (6 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-11-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-10
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2023-03-23