ACE23 LTD

🌿Early-stageactive
NI695946 · ltd · incorporated 2023-04-02
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
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.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 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
13 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (12 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-04-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2023-04-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2023-04-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2023-04-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2023-04-11
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  8. 2023-04-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2023-04-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACE23 LTD
  10. 2023-04-02
    ➕
    MCLAUGHLIN, Gemma Anne Marie appointed
    director
  11. 2023-04-02
    ➕
    MCLAUGHLIN, James Andrew, Professor appointed
    director
  12. 2023-04-02
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

81/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

56/100
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.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Professor James Andrew Mclaughlin
Individual · Northern Irish · DOB 10/1960 · age 66
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control02/04/2023

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.

See pricing →

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · BT postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
GOLF HOLDINGS LIMITED→
NI042002 · est 2001
£18.07M
£13.31M–£22.82M
——300024y8880y
MCADAM DESIGN LIMITED→
NI013516 · est 1979
£15.65M
£11.53M–£19.76M
£22.01M—1480047y8861y
DORAN CONSULTING LIMITED→
NI055181 · est 2005
£13.17M
£9.70M–£16.63M
——13621y8565y
COPIUS (NI) LTD→
NI071245 · est 2008
£6.20M
£4.57M–£7.83M
——180017y8575y
B S LIFT LIMITED→
NI067456 · est 2007
£4.43M
£3.26M–£5.59M
——3618y8676y
FIRST CHOICE SELECTION SERVICES LTD→
NI026337 · est 1992
£3.40M
£2.51M–£4.30M
£22.43M—8550034y8769y
VAUGHAN ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED→
NI003617 · est 1955
£2.73M
£2.01M–£3.44M
——1200070y8569y
INDUSTRIAL TEMPS LIMITED→
NI029155 · est 1995
£2.68M
£1.97M–£3.38M
£23.87M—12370031y8761y
VALUE VAN RENTAL UK LTD→
NI629512 · est 2015
£1.38M
£1.02M–£1.75M
£2.12M—70011y9158y
MOTIS TOLLS LIMITED→
NI627289 · est 2014
£1.14M
£837.7k–£1.44M
£29.30M—011y9359y
BREEZEMOUNT GROUP LTD→
NI635494 · est 2015
£368.9k
£271.8k–£466.0k
£400.0k—40010y8465y
ENTERPRISE NORTHERN IRELAND LTD→
NI038769 · est 2000
£7.6k
£5.6k–£9.6k
——3225y9464y
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
Incorporated2023-04-02
Jurisdictionnorthern-ireland
Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

49 North Parade
Belfast
County Antrim
BT7 2GH
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-22
Last: 2026-04-08

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MCLAUGHLIN, Gemma Anne Marie→
director · ~57y · appointed 2023-04-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCLAUGHLIN, James Andrew, Professor→
director · ~66y · appointed 2023-04-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (13 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-01
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-11
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-04-11
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-04-11
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2023-04-02