About ACSS
Empowering seafood businesses through innovative system solutions. Advanced technology for tomorrow's catch. Systems developed specifically for the fish and seafood processing industry.
The ACSS Story
ACSS founder Richard Clarke comes from a background of extensive experience of writing software for use with specialist weighing equipment. On a visit to the esteemed and since retired Steve James of W. James & Sons of Newlyn in Cornwall, it became clear that fish packers and fish factories like them did not have appropriate software and hardware solutions. Richard set about creating a complete solution of both software and hardware which could meet their specialised needs and replace 'one-size-fits-all' systems that were in use but designed for red meat and poultry.
This led to the creation of ACSS as a unique, specialised and unrivalled provider of a complete hardware and software solution for fish factories. Sarah Adams joined him in 2007 as co-Director, having worked in customer-facing roles providing solutions to the food processing industry all her working life. Together with their team they are proud to support many seafood processors to work more efficiently, enabling them to do what they do best, which is providing quality seafood products, whilst the ACSS system looks after the day-to-day operations.
We only supply to the Seafood industry
Our journey
- The beginning
A visit to Newlyn
On a visit to Steve James of W. James & Sons in Newlyn, Richard Clarke saw that fish packers were making do with systems built for red meat and poultry. He set out to build a complete software and hardware system for fish instead.
- 2007
Sarah Adams joins
Sarah joins Richard as co-Director, bringing a career spent providing solutions to the food processing industry.
- Over the years
Trusted on the factory floor
The Aquarius software and our fish packing stations earn a trusted reputation, and our customers stay with us.
- August 2026
Wakeflow joins, Hooked launches
Software company Wakeflow acquires ACSS and takes on development of Aquarius, with Sarah and Richard staying on. Customers can now order through our Hooked app.
- September 2026
Aquarius Pro
The system becomes Aquarius Pro, available in 15 languages: from customer order to invoice in one place.
What makes ACSS different
Only fish and seafood
We only supply to the seafood industry. Aquarius was built for fish from day one, not adapted from a system for meat or poultry.
Software and hardware, one team
Aquarius, packing stations, scales, printers and scanners all come from us, so everything works together and one team supports it.
Order to invoice in one place
Orders, goods in, stock, traceability, processing, despatch and invoicing in one system, with customers ordering through our Hooked app.
Installed, trained and supported
Every installation includes staff training, followed by ongoing technical support from people who know fish processing.
"The system has simplified our business immeasurably. We used to manually hand-write everything. Now each box is weighed and labelled through the computerised weighing system and orders are imported and invoiced through our accounts system. This has saved lots of time and mistakes that the hand-written system used to create. We would definitely recommend ACSS to anyone who requires a system that is flexible and works. The system is easy to use and the levels of support are perfect. We have used this system for 10 years now and would never go back to using paper systems."
Meet the Team
ACSS founding team Sarah Adams and Richard Clarke will stay on, continuing to bring their unrivalled seafood industry knowledge and the personal service our customers know and trust. Software development of the Aquarius system is carried out by the Wakeflow team, our software development partner.
The Founding Team
Richard Clarke
Richard founded ACSS, drawing on extensive experience of writing software for use with specialist weighing equipment. After seeing first-hand that fish packers and fish factories had no appropriate software and hardware solutions, he set about creating the complete, specialised solution that became the Aquarius system.
Sarah Adams
Sarah joined Richard in 2007 as co-Director, having worked in customer-facing roles providing solutions to the food processing industry all her working life. Together with the team she is proud to support many seafood processors to work more efficiently.
The Wakeflow Team — Software Development
Andreas Kater
Andi founded Wakeflow and has a background in Management Consulting and Software Development. As the COO of three London-based tech start-ups, he has automated the operations of businesses covering agricultural satellite image analytics, financial services and natural language processing. Andi holds an MBA from INSEAD
Aravind Vakil
Aravind is a passionate Full Stack Engineer with a sharp eye for UI and deep expertise in hybrid apps, cloud platforms, NLP, and scalable backend systems. From DevOps to delivery, he leads the development of end-to-end products. He has worked across a wide range of domains including Logistics, E-commerce, Manufacturing, EdTech, Civics, Hospitality, Property Management, and more, turning complex ideas into smart, elegant solutions that scale.
We only supply to the Seafood industry
At ACSS we are experts at providing fish and Seafood factories with our Aquarius software and hardware Solutions to streamline factory and office processes from goods in through to despatch. From Cornwall to Scotland, we provide unique systems for fish and seafood packers to optimise their throughput and yield. Whilst retaining a personal service, our root values of a family business and a passion for fish, we have grown year on year in line with our dynamic and complete solutions.
ACSS has spent over 20 years developing and evolving specialised fish and seafood packing systems in collaboration with the businesses who use them. Our pioneering cloud software Aquarius Pro is modular and tailored to your operational needs and enables complete operations management. All data is available for you to use from any web browser.
Why Choose Us?
- More than 30 years of systems development experience
- Cost reduction and production efficiencies.
- Outstanding Systems support
- Excellent reviews and many loyal customers