ACE MANPOWER LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC318177 · ltd · incorporated 2007-03-09
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£40.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed trade-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (65/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -99% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 8.5y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 8.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
48 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review 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 £40,229
Net assets shrinking
Down £3,785 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 99% YoY
Cash YoY
-99%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£656
↓ 99% YoY
Net Worth
£40k
↓ 8.6% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£9k£19k£28k£38k£47kDec 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
Cash£656£47.4k
Net assets£40.2k£44.0k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 signals 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 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-09-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-04
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2020-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-06-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-08-08
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2018-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-02-07
    📄
    change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH04
  12. 2017-10-18
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  13. 2017-10-17
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2017-10-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  15. 2017-09-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-04-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2008-05-07
    ➕
    STRONACHS SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2008-05-07
    ➖
    STRONACHS resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 2007-03-23
    ➕
    COBBAN, Terence Robert appointed
    director
  21. 2007-03-23
    ➖
    NEILSON, Ewan Craig resigned
    nominee-director
  22. 2007-03-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACE MANPOWER LIMITED
  23. 2007-03-09
    ➕
    STRONACHS appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2007-03-09
    ➕
    NEILSON, Ewan Craig appointed
    nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

83/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-03-23

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Terence Robert Cobban
Individual · British · DOB 04/1962 · age 64
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2007-03-09
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

28 Albyn Place
Aberdeen
AB10 1YL
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-03-23OVERDUE
Last: 2025-03-09

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

STRONACHS SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2008-05-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COBBAN, Terence Robert→
director · ~64y · appointed 2007-03-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STRONACHS→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2007-03-09 · resigned 2008-05-07
Resigned
NEILSON, Ewan Craig→
nominee-director · ~68y · appointed 2007-03-09 · resigned 2007-03-23
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
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
A registered charge—11/10/2017—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (48 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-28
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-03-11