ACORN FIXINGS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
02006325 · ltd · incorporated 1986-04-03
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46150
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 40.1y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 40.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
97 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Average employees1100

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 (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-08-17
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  7. 2021-08-17
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2021-08-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2021-01-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-01-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-05-03
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  14. 2017-02-22
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  15. 2016-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2007-03-30
    BROWN, Pamela appointed
    secretary
  17. 2007-03-30
    QUIMBY, Paul resigned
    secretary
  18. 2007-03-30
    QUIMBY, Paul resigned
    director
  19. 1986-04-28
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Midland Bank PLC
  20. 1986-04-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN FIXINGS LIMITED

Owner dependency

90/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
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 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 40 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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 Gordon Cameron Brown
Individual · British · DOB 07/1959 · age 67
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting01/06/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Incorporated1986-04-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46150 — SIC 46150

Registered office

Capital House 272 Manchester Road
Droylsden
Manchester
M43 6PW
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-03
Last: 2025-08-20

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

BROWN, Pamela
secretary · appointed 2007-03-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BROWN, Gordon Cameron
director · ~67y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
QUIMBY, Paul
secretary · resigned 2007-03-30
Resigned
QUIMBY, Paul
director · ~79y · resigned 2007-03-30
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
Midland Bank
Midland Bank PLC
Charge1 property28/04/1986
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (97 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-20
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2021-08-17
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-08-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-08-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-20