ASPIRE TOPCO LIMITED
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Next accounts due
2026-09-30 (in 4mo)
Last filed for 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement due
2026-07-08 (in 2mo)
Last made up 2025-06-24
Watchouts
Cash
£2M
+72.7% vs 2023
Net assets
£16M
+21.1% vs 2023
Employees
455
+18.5% vs 2023
Profit before tax
-£4M
-19% vs 2023
Watchouts
Facts from the Companies House register and the latest accounts — not a rating
-
7 officer resignations in last 12 months
Multiple officers have left the board recently — see the People section for who.
-
1 PSC ceased in last 24 months
Significant control changed hands — see the Ownership section.
Net assets
2-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median
Accounts
2-year trend · latest reflected 2024-12-31
| Metric | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £35,330,825 | £41,553,375 | |
| Operating profit | -£204,406 | -£605,550 | |
| Profit before tax | -£3,152,224 | -£3,750,766 | |
| Net profit | -£1,869,963 | -£3,155,653 | |
| Cash | £1,201,992 | £2,076,387 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £40,805,836 | £53,509,956 | |
| Net assets | £13,607,122 | £16,482,773 | |
| Equity | £13,607,122 | £16,482,773 | |
| Average employees | 384 | 455 | |
| Wages | £20,610,512 | £23,611,472 |
Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. About these numbers
Ratios
Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest
| Ratio | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | -0.6% | -1.5% | |
| Net margin | -5.3% | -7.6% | |
| Return on capital employed | -0.5% | -1.1% | |
| Gearing (liabilities / total assets) | 72.4% | 75.1% | |
| Current ratio | 0.94x | 1.02x | |
| Interest cover | -0.07x | -0.18x |
Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.
Audit & accounting basis
- Accounting basis
- IFRS
- Reporting scope
- Consolidated group
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton UK LLP
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“The directors have prepared a going concern analysis following the acquisition of the group by Artisan Acquisitionco Limited on 30 September 2025. With the acquisition all external debt was repaid by equity injection. We are confident the Group will continue to operate as a going concern, well placed to meet customer demand and continue growth.”
Group structure
- ASPIRE TOPCO LIMITED · parent
- Aspire Holdco Limited 100%
- Aspire Midco Limited 100%
- Aspire Bidco Limited 100%
- Ascent Digital Services UK Limited 100%
- Ascent Software (UK) Limited 100%
- Ascent Software Holdings Malta Limited 100%
- Ascent Software Limited 100%
- Ascent Solutions Limited 100%
- TechHuddle Limited 100%
- Ascent Teams EOOD 100%
- Ascent Services EOOD 100%
- Ascent (Portugal), Unipessoal, LDA 100%
- Aspire Holding GmbH 100%
- Tekaris GmbH 75%
- Ascent Digital Services AT GmbH 100%
- Ascent Digital Services CH AG 100%
- Parkside Interactive Technology, Unipessoal, LDA. 100%
Significant events
- “The group purchased an Austrian-based group on 5th June 2024 for an initial consideration of £9.5m with an additional deferred consideration of £5.1m payable at the earliest of the sale of the Group or December 2026.”
- “In December 2024, an additional £1.2m funding was received for preference shares that were issued subsequent to the reporting date in February 2025.”
- “On 19 June 2025, the Group's private equity shareholders entered into a share purchase agreement with Artisan Acquisitionco Limited. Completion was on 30th September 2025 at which point all debt was repaid.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
4 active · 11 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KING, Robert David | Director | 2025-09-30 | Apr 1974 | British |
| MULLEN, Ian Nicholas | Director | 2025-09-30 | Mar 1969 | British |
| O'DONNELL, Jonathan | Director | 2025-09-30 | May 1970 | British |
| SMYTHE, Stewart | Director | 2019-11-14 | Nov 1973 | British |
Show 11 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| BATES, Christopher | Director | 2023-05-03 | 2025-09-30 |
| EARP, George | Director | 2019-11-29 | 2025-09-30 |
| HITCHCOCK, Simon John | Director | 2019-11-14 | 2025-09-30 |
| HUDSON, Benjamin Charles | Director | 2019-11-29 | 2023-05-03 |
| MALE, Philip Stewart | Director | 2019-11-29 | 2025-09-30 |
| MORRIS, Matthew | Director | 2019-11-14 | 2022-01-19 |
| SEAR, Simon | Director | 2025-09-30 | 2026-02-28 |
| SULTANA, Joseph | Director | 2019-11-29 | 2025-09-30 |
| WHITE, James Russell | Director | 2023-10-10 | 2025-09-30 |
| WHITEHOUSE, James Michael | Director | 2022-05-19 | 2024-12-01 |
| WILKEY, Richard Geraint | Director | 2019-06-25 | 2019-11-14 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artisan Acquisitionco Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100%, Appoints directors | 2025-09-30 | Active |
| Rozi Limited | Corporate entity | Voting 25–50% | 2019-11-29 | Ceased 2022-05-19 |
| Horizon Capital 2018 Limited Partnership | Corporate entity | Shares 50–75%, Voting 25–50% | 2019-11-14 | Ceased 2025-09-30 |
| Harrison Clark (Shareholding) Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100% | 2019-06-25 | Ceased 2019-11-14 |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 108 total filings
Material constitutional events — rename, articles re-file, resolution
- 2026-02-15 RESOLUTIONS Resolution
- 2025-10-08 RESOLUTIONS Resolution
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-06 | AA01 | accounts | Change account reference date company previous extended | |
| 2026-03-06 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2026-02-15 | RESOLUTIONS | resolution | Resolution | |
| 2026-02-15 | SH08 | capital | Capital name of class of shares | |
| 2026-02-15 | SH10 | capital | Capital variation of rights attached to shares | |
| 2026-01-14 | RP01CS01 | confirmation-statement | Replacement filing of confirmation statement with made up date | |
| 2025-10-15 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2025-10-08 | RESOLUTIONS | resolution | Resolution | |
| 2025-10-08 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2025-10-03 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2025-10-03 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2025-10-03 | PSC02 | persons-with-significant-control | Notification of a person with significant control | |
| 2025-10-03 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2025-10-03 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-10-03 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-10-03 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-10-03 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-10-03 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-10-03 | PSC07 | persons-with-significant-control | Cessation of a person with significant control | |
| 2025-10-03 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 20
- Capital events
- 2
- Officers appointed
- 3
- Officers resigned
- 7
last 12 months
last 24 months
last 12 months
last 12 months
Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.
Year-on-year
FY2023 → FY2024 · period ending 2024-12-31 vs 2023-12-31
-
Turnover
+17.6%
£35,330,825 £41,553,375
-
Cash
+72.7%
£1,201,992 £2,076,387
-
Net assets
+21.1%
£13,607,122 £16,482,773
-
Employees
+18.5%
384 455
-
Operating profit
-196.2%
-£204,406 -£605,550
-
Profit before tax
-19%
-£3,152,224 -£3,750,766
-
Wages
+14.6%
£20,610,512 £23,611,472
Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. The comparison is only shown when the latest and prior accounts cover broadly equal-length periods — short or long stubs (typical around incorporation or a year-end change) are suppressed rather than misrepresented. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers