Deep Water
Deep Water Research

Financial Distress & Registry Signals Report: Acme Cloud Ltd & Associated Entities

Financial-distress signals for the UK company Acme Cloud Ltd: county court judgments, winding-up petitions, insolvency or administration notices, and other corroborating evidence of supplier distress. Prioritise these sources: companies-house, gov-uk. Report only corroborated findings and name primary sources.

Jul 2, 202648 sources reviewed

Executive Summary

This report evaluates financial-distress telemetry—spanning insolvency proceedings, county court judgments, and registry anomalies—for the UK-based entity Acme Cloud Ltd. Because the primary corporate registry (Companies House) does not currently return an exact match for "Acme Cloud Ltd" in the surveyed dataset, this analysis incorporates a comprehensive entity disambiguation covering similarly named operational and historical entities (e.g., Automatic Cloud Ltd, Archangel Cloud Ltd, Acme UK Inc Ltd, and legacy Acme entities).

Key findings from the registry data include:

  • Confirmed Insolvent Liquidation: The most severe distress signal in the target cluster belongs to Acme Networks Limited, which is currently subject to a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL) that commenced in 2014 [3], [19]. It is slated for final dissolution in mid-2025 [11].
  • Solvent Winding-Up Events: Acme United (Group) Limited underwent a Members' Voluntary Liquidation (MVL) [2]. Crucially, a declaration of solvency was sworn, indicating this was a strategic structural closure rather than a distress-driven insolvency [18].
  • Voluntary Strike-Offs & Dormancy: Acme Inc Ltd (formerly Armadillo Spirits Ltd) filed dormant accounts before initiating a voluntary strike-off process, resulting in dissolution [9], [25], [33].
  • Active Corporate Statuses: Entities such as Acme Ltd, Automatic Cloud Ltd, and Archangel Cloud Limited maintain an Active status with no active insolvency proceedings or administration notices on the registry [6], [7], [12].
  • Data Latency & Temporal Anomalies: Several active entities project next-account and confirmation statement deadlines far into the future (2026–2027), reflecting filing updates that are current as of the latest registry syncs [4], [21], [28].

1. Entity Disambiguation and Architectural Framework

Companies House is the UK government organization responsible for registering companies, recording critical metadata such as registered addresses, annual turnover, and elected officers [32]. For automated distress monitoring, the Companies House API acts as the primary data connector, exposing vital telemetry regarding entity health.

To execute this risk assessment, the monitoring architecture leverages several key API endpoints:

  • has_been_liquidated (Boolean): Immediately flags historical or active liquidations [8].
  • date_of_creation (String): Establishes entity age and operational history [16].
  • accounts.accounting_reference_date: Tracks compliance with statutory filing deadlines [24].
  • items.particulars.contains_fixed_charge & floating_charge_covers_all (Boolean): Identifies secured creditor positions, which frequently precede formal distress [43].
  • Filing History By Company Number: Extracts formal corporate events, including gazette notices and strike-offs [40].

Because "Acme Cloud Ltd" did not trigger an exact match, our registry surveillance captured the following associated entities for risk evaluation:

Company Name Company Number Incorporation / Status Key Distress Indicator
ACME LTD 11519884 Inc: 15 Aug 2018 [15]. Status: Active [7]. None. Operating normally.
AUTOMATIC CLOUD LTD 12429461 Status: Active. No active insolvency proceedings [12].
ARCHANGEL CLOUD LIMITED SC726505 Status: Active. No active insolvency proceedings [6].
ACME UK INC LIMITED 11222601 Status: Active. No active insolvency proceedings declared [5].
ACME INC LTD SC704338 Inc: 16 Jul 2021 [17]. Status: Dissolved [1]. Final Gazette voluntary strike-off [1], [9].
ACME NETWORKS LIMITED 06774548 Status: Liquidation. Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation (CVL) [19].
ACME UNITED (GROUP) LIMITED 00305043 Status: Liquidation. Members' Voluntary Liquidation (MVL) [2].

2. Insolvency and Administration Proceedings on Companies House

An examination of the Companies House API has_been_liquidated and filing history endpoints reveals significant bifurcations in the financial health of the surveyed entities.

Severe Distress: Acme Networks Limited

Acme Networks Limited (06774548) exhibits the most critical financial distress signals in the dataset. The company is currently subject to a Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation (CVL) [19]. In UK corporate law, a CVL is initiated when a company's directors formally determine that the business is insolvent and cannot sustain its liabilities.

  • Winding-Up Commencement: The liquidation process officially commenced on 10 July 2014 [3].
  • Insolvency Practitioner: Joseph Gordon Maurice Sadler was appointed to oversee the liquidation on the commencement date [27]. The practitioner's registered office for this proceeding is located at Cumberland House, 35 Park Row, Nottingham, NG1 6EE [35].
  • Resolution: The registry indicates that the final dissolution of the entity is scheduled for 30 June 2025 [11].

Solvent Restructuring: Acme United (Group) Limited

In contrast to Acme Networks, the liquidation of Acme United (Group) Limited (00305043) does not represent a distress signal. The registry records a Members' Voluntary Liquidation (MVL) [2]. An MVL requires the company to be solvent enough to pay all outstanding debts within a maximum period of 12 months.

  • Declaration of Solvency: A formal declaration of solvency was sworn on 5 November 2002, legally confirming the entity's ability to cover its liabilities [18].
  • Winding-Up Commencement: Winding-up commenced shortly thereafter, on 26 November 2002 [10].
  • Insolvency Practitioners: Angus Matthew Martin and Ian Brown, both affiliated with Deloitte & Touche (later Deloitte LLP) at 1 City Square, Leeds, LS1 2AL, were appointed as joint practitioners on 26 November 2002 [26], [34].

Voluntary Strike-Off: Acme Inc Ltd

ACME INC LTD (SC704338) underwent a voluntary strike-off [1]. This is typically utilized for dormant or obsolete entities rather than as a mechanism for escaping active creditor distress.

  • The company was incorporated on 16 July 2021 [17].
  • It previously operated under the name Armadillo Spirits Ltd, formally changing its name to ACME INC LTD on 06 February 2025 [33].
  • The company's dissolution via voluntary strike-off was formalized in the Final Gazette on 02 June 2026 [9].

3. The Gazette: Winding-up Petitions

In UK corporate monitoring, a Winding-up Petition (WUP) published in The Gazette is often the most aggressive and terminal distress signal, indicating that a creditor has applied to the courts to force the company into compulsory liquidation due to unpaid debts.

Current Findings: Based on the curated evidence dataset, there are zero corroborated records of active or historical Winding-up Petitions filed against Acme Cloud Ltd, Automatic Cloud Ltd, Archangel Cloud Ltd, Acme UK Inc Limited, or Acme Ltd.

(Note: While Acme Networks Limited was wound up [3], it was via a CVL [19] rather than a compulsory court-ordered winding up driven by a Gazette WUP).

4. County Court Judgments (CCJs) and Litigation Records

Outstanding County Court Judgments (CCJs) serve as early-warning indicators of liquidity crises and severe payment delays. Accumulation of CCJs frequently precedes formal insolvency events.

Current Findings: The registry and dataset evidence provided yields no corroborated records of active litigation or outstanding CCJs against any of the active entities analyzed in this report.

5. Supplier Distress and Trade Media Coverage

Before formal statutory filings are made, financial distress frequently leaks into trade media and debt recovery forums as suppliers complain of payment delays, renegotiated terms, or sudden halts in procurement.

Current Findings: There are no indications of supplier distress, adverse trade credit updates, or supply chain payment delays involving Acme Cloud Ltd or its active variants within the provided evidence.

6. Filing Accounts, Solvency, and Liquidity Telemetry

The financial solvency and liquidity of the active entities can be partially inferred from their compliance with statutory accounting reference dates. Delayed filings are a prominent, albeit indirect, signal of administrative or financial distress.

Companies House API enables programmatic retrieval of the accounting_reference_date (day and month) to monitor filing compliance [24]. Furthermore, liquidity positions can be analyzed by querying whether the company's particulars contain a fixed charge (contains_fixed_charge) or if a floating charge covers all assets (floating_charge_covers_all) [43]. The presence of fixed and floating charges typically means a traditional lender (e.g., a bank) holds secured rights over the company's assets, which heavily influences supplier risk. No active charges were flagged for the following entities in the provided dataset.

ACME LTD (11519884)

  • Core Details: Incorporated on 15 August 2018 [15], the company is legally registered at 76 Tabernacle Street, London, EC2A 4EA [39]. It operates under SIC code 71111 (Architectural activities) [42]. It was previously known as ACME LEGACY LTD [31].
  • Status & Accounts: The company maintains an Active status [7]. Its last accounts were made up to 31 March 2025 [23].

AUTOMATIC CLOUD LTD (12429461)

  • Status & Accounts: Currently active with no insolvency noted [12]. The last accounts were made up to 28 January 2026 [20], and the next set of accounts is due by 31 October 2027 [4].
  • Confirmation Statements: The last statement was dated 27 January 2026 [36]. The next statement is scheduled for 27 January 2027 and is due by 10 February 2027 [28].

ACME UK INC LIMITED (11222601)

  • Status & Accounts: Currently active [5]. The company's last accounts were made up to 28 February 2025 [13]. The next accounts (made up to 28 February 2026) are due by 30 November 2026 [21].
  • Confirmation Statements: The previous confirmation statement was dated 19 February 2026 [29]. The subsequent statement is scheduled for 19 February 2027 and is due by 5 March 2027 [37].

ARCHANGEL CLOUD LIMITED (SC726505)

  • Status & Accounts: Active with no insolvency proceedings [6]. The last accounts were made up to 31 August 2025 [14]. The next accounts (made up to 31 August 2026) are due by 31 May 2027 [22].
  • Confirmation Statements: The most recent statement was dated 15 March 2026 [30]. The next statement is scheduled for 15 March 2027 and is due by 29 March 2027 [38].

ACME INC LTD (SC704338) - Dormancy Pre-Dissolution

Prior to its dissolution, Acme Inc Ltd filed accounts classifying it as a dormant entity. The last accounts filed on 28 August 2025 were made up to 31 December 2024 for a dormant company [25]. A subsequent confirmation statement with no updates was filed on 15 July 2025 [44]. Filing dormant accounts explicitly indicates a lack of significant accounting transactions, effectively confirming that the entity was a non-trading shell before its voluntary strike-off [9].

Limitations and Open Questions

  1. Entity Name Mismatch: The primary target, "Acme Cloud Ltd," did not return an exact match in the queried registry data. Evaluating proxy entities (Automatic Cloud Ltd, Archangel Cloud Ltd) introduces a risk of false positives/negatives if the actual target operates under an entirely different corporate structure or registration number.
  2. Dataset Temporal Anomalies: The evidence dataset contains filing dates, dissolution dates, and account milestones placed in 2025, 2026, and 2027 (e.g., Acme Inc Ltd dissolving on 02 Jun 2026 [9]). This indicates that the source data may be a synthetic testing dataset, a projection environment, or that the current evaluation is taking place from a future baseline.
  3. Absence of Secondary Telemetry: The provided evidence is strictly limited to Companies House registry outputs and API specifications. The total absence of corroborating or contradictory evidence from The Gazette, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (CCJs), or trade media restricts this report to structural/statutory indicators rather than real-time operational liquidity alerts.

Sources

Source Quality Summary: Evidence draws on 38 government sources and 6 professional publications.