ACORN THORN LTD.

🌳Matureactive
03094490 · ltd · incorporated 1995-08-23
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 19.6y old — refinance window within 12 months
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2025
Net worth
£1.18M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 25990
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (73/100, director aged 80). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 19.6y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 19.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
12 officers (4 active, 12 linked, 8 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
112 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red 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 £1,182,413
Cash YoY
+25%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£288k
↑ 25% YoY
Net Worth
£1.2m
↑ 11% YoY
Current Assets
£1.7m
↑ 24% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£337k£673k£1.0m£1.3m£1.7mDec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Total assets£1.19M£1.08M
Current assets£1.68M£1.36M
Cash£287.8k£229.8k
Debtors£351.7k£296.8k
Net assets£1.18M£1.07M

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (42 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-03-21
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  6. 2023-03-21
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  7. 2023-03-21
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  8. 2023-03-21
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  9. 2022-11-30
    ➕
    THORN, Gloria appointed
    director
  10. 2022-11-30
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  11. 2022-05-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-08-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2020-08-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2020-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2019-05-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-05-01
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  18. 2018-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  19. 2018-01-08
    ➖
    POWELL, Denise Julie resigned
    secretary
  20. 2018-01-08
    ➖
    POWELL, Denise Julie resigned
    director
  21. 2018-01-08
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  22. 2018-01-08
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  23. 2017-10-10
    ➕
    THORN, Paul David appointed
    director
  24. 2017-10-10
    ➖
    POWELL, Ian James resigned
    director
  25. 2016-01-01
    ➕
    KAHLE, Kristin E appointed
    director
  26. 2015-12-31
    ➖
    MORRIS, William Dennis resigned
    director
  27. 2006-11-20
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  28. 2006-11-20
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  29. 2003-04-03
    ➖
    MORRIS, Earl Laverne resigned
    director
  30. 2001-09-01
    ➕
    POWELL, Denise Julie appointed
    secretary
  31. 2001-08-31
    ➖
    STEVENSON, Robert Louis resigned
    secretary
  32. 1997-12-15
    ➕
    MORRIS, Earl Laverne appointed
    director
  33. 1997-12-15
    ➕
    MORRIS, William Dennis appointed
    director
  34. 1997-12-15
    ➕
    POWELL, Denise Julie appointed
    director
  35. 1997-12-15
    ➕
    POWELL, Ian James appointed
    director
  36. 1995-08-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN THORN LTD.
  37. 1995-08-23
    ➕
    MORRIS, Donald Earl appointed
    director
  38. 1995-08-23
    ➕
    STEVENSON, Robert Louis appointed
    secretary
  39. 1995-08-23
    ➕
    BRISTOL LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  40. 1995-08-23
    ➖
    BRISTOL LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  41. 1995-08-23
    ➕
    BOURSE SECURITIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  42. 1995-08-23
    ➖
    BOURSE SECURITIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

88/100
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
  • -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "THORN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 31 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Group structure

2 corporate shareholders identified. Group structure is distributed.

🏛️
Rolunpath Limited
Corporate parent · holds 25-50% shares
significant stake
🏛️
Acorn Engineering Inc
Corporate parent · holds 50-75% shares · board control
majority
⬇
ACORN THORN LTD.
This company · 03094490

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Acorn Engineering Inc
Corporate entity
50–75%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence06/04/2016
Rolunpath Limited
Corporate entity
25–50%
—25-50% shares10/10/2017
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Ian James Powellceased 10/10/2017· 25-50% shares

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

7 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
Incorporated1995-08-23
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC25990 — SIC 25990

Registered office

5 Brearley Court Baird Road
Waterwells Business Park
Quedgeley
Gloucester
GL2 2AF

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-06
Last: 2025-08-23

Officers (4 active · 8 resigned)

KAHLE, Kristin E→
director · ~57y · appointed 2016-01-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MORRIS, Donald Earl→
director · ~80y · appointed 1995-08-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
THORN, Gloria→
director · ~66y · appointed 2022-11-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
THORN, Paul David→
director · ~58y · appointed 2017-10-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
POWELL, Denise Julie→
secretary · appointed 2001-09-01 · resigned 2018-01-08
Resigned
STEVENSON, Robert Louis→
secretary · appointed 1995-08-23 · resigned 2001-08-31
Resigned
BRISTOL LEGAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1995-08-23 · resigned 1995-08-23
Resigned
MORRIS, Earl Laverne→
director · ~113y · appointed 1997-12-15 · resigned 2003-04-03
Resigned
MORRIS, William Dennis→
director · ~78y · appointed 1997-12-15 · resigned 2015-12-31
Resigned
POWELL, Denise Julie→
director · ~66y · appointed 1997-12-15 · resigned 2018-01-08
Resigned
POWELL, Ian James→
director · ~69y · appointed 1997-12-15 · resigned 2017-10-10
Resigned
BOURSE SECURITIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1995-08-23 · resigned 1995-08-23
Resigned

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Debenture1 property20/11/200621/03/2023
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property20/11/200621/03/2023

Recent filings (112 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2026-05-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2025-04-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2024-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2023-04-03
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2023-03-21
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2023-03-21
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2022-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2021-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-24