A.C. TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03530992 · ltd · incorporated 1998-03-19
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£-22.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46520
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
6 connected companies via shared directors
63
Filing history
69 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
80
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 · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £22,145

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£1k
Net Worth
-£22k
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
-£22k-£17k-£13k-£8k-£3k£1kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£-22.1k—
Cash£1.4k—
Net assets£-22.1k—
Average employees—100

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
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 (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-22
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  3. 2025-02-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2024-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-12-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-03-29
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2022-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-05-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-08-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-05-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2005-12-06
    ➕
    PHILIPPS, Carole Ann appointed
    secretary
  17. 2005-12-06
    ➖
    BELTON, Frederick Hubert resigned
    secretary
  18. 1999-05-31
    ➖
    EVANS, Michael resigned
    director
  19. 1999-01-01
    ➕
    EVANS, Michael appointed
    director
  20. 1998-03-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A.C. TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS LIMITED
  21. 1998-03-19
    ➕
    PHILIPPS, Andrew Erwin appointed
    director
  22. 1998-03-19
    ➕
    BELTON, Frederick Hubert appointed
    secretary
  23. 1998-03-19
    ➕
    PARAMOUNT COMPANY SEARCHES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1998-03-19
    ➖
    PARAMOUNT COMPANY SEARCHES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1998-03-19
    ➕
    PARAMOUNT PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 1998-03-19
    ➖
    PARAMOUNT PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Andrew Erwin Philipps
Individual · British · DOB 03/1954 · age 72
75–100%
—sig. influence75-100% shares · significant influence · firm interest06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated1998-03-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46520 — SIC 46520

Registered office

Oakley House
Tetbury Road
Cirencester
GL7 1US
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-02
Last: 2026-03-19

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

PHILIPPS, Carole Ann→
secretary · appointed 2005-12-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PHILIPPS, Andrew Erwin→
director · ~72y · appointed 1998-03-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BELTON, Frederick Hubert→
secretary · appointed 1998-03-19 · resigned 2005-12-06
Resigned
PARAMOUNT COMPANY SEARCHES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-03-19 · resigned 1998-03-19
Resigned
EVANS, Michael→
director · ~75y · appointed 1999-01-01 · resigned 1999-05-31
Resigned
PARAMOUNT PROPERTIES (UK) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-03-19 · resigned 1998-03-19
Resigned

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

Recent filings (69 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-22
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-04-22
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-21
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-03-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-05-13