ACON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC277386 · ltd · incorporated 2004-12-14
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£29.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
83/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Construction of other civil engineering projects n.e.c.
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -34% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 5.5y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 5.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
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
50 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
83/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
85
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £28,962
Cash YoY
-34%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£67k
↓ 34% YoY
Net Worth
£29k
↑ 361% YoY
Current Assets
£433k
↓ 22% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£111k£221k£332k£443k£553kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£48.3k£44.2k
Current assets£432.6k£553.3k
Cash£66.5k£101.0k
Debtors£334.1k£420.3k
Net assets£29.0k£6.3k

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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-05-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2021-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-12-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  8. 2020-11-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Bank of Scoltand PLC
  9. 2020-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-01-07
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-12-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2007-08-16
    ➕
    MORRISON, Audrey appointed
    secretary
  18. 2007-08-16
    ➖
    PEPPER, Spencer resigned
    secretary
  19. 2007-08-16
    ➖
    PEPPER, Spencer resigned
    director
  20. 2004-12-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACON LIMITED
  21. 2004-12-14
    ➕
    RITCHIE, Andrew appointed
    director
  22. 2004-12-14
    ➕
    SOMMERVILLE, Richard George appointed
    director
  23. 2004-12-14
    ➕
    PEPPER, Spencer appointed
    secretary
  24. 2004-12-14
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2004-12-14
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2004-12-14
    ➕
    PEPPER, Spencer appointed
    director

Owner dependency

76/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Andrew Ritchie
Individual · British · DOB 02/1964 · age 62
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr Richard George Sommerville
Individual · British · DOB 04/1964 · age 62
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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

6 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
Incorporated2004-12-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC42990 — Construction of other civil engineering projects n.e.c.

Registered office

Cove Farm, Cove Estate
Kirkpatrick Fleming
Lockerbie
DG11 3AT

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-28
Last: 2025-12-14

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

MORRISON, Audrey→
secretary · appointed 2007-08-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RITCHIE, Andrew→
director · ~62y · appointed 2004-12-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SOMMERVILLE, Richard George→
director · ~62y · appointed 2004-12-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PEPPER, Spencer→
secretary · appointed 2004-12-14 · resigned 2007-08-16
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-12-14 · resigned 2004-12-14
Resigned
PEPPER, Spencer→
director · ~64y · appointed 2004-12-14 · resigned 2007-08-16
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Bank of Scoltand
Bank of Scoltand PLC
A registered charge—17/11/2020—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (50 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-09-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-31
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2020-12-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-19