ACORN FINANCE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04040964 · ltd · incorporated 2000-07-26
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£41.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Financial leasing
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
63 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £41,708
Net assets shrinking
Down £6,768 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£42k
↓ 14% YoY
Current Assets
£37k
↑ 15% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£10k£19k£29k£39k£48kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£41.7k£48.5k
Current assets£37.3k£32.4k
Net assets£41.7k£48.5k

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 address
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 address
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-05-12
    ➖
    LEES, Lawrence Henry resigned
    secretary
  4. 2025-05-12
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  5. 2024-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-06-28
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  8. 2022-06-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-09-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-04-30
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2020-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-10-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2014-01-31
    ➖
    LEES, Eileen Margaret resigned
    director
  18. 2000-07-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN FINANCE LIMITED
  19. 2000-07-26
    ➕
    AINSWORTH, Anthony John appointed
    director
  20. 2000-07-26
    ➕
    LEES, Lawrence Henry appointed
    secretary
  21. 2000-07-26
    ➕
    LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2000-07-26
    ➖
    LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2000-07-26
    ➕
    LEES, Eileen Margaret appointed
    director
  24. 2000-07-26
    ➕
    LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2000-07-26
    ➖
    LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Anthony John Ainsworth
Individual · British · DOB 11/1956 · age 70
25–50%
—25-50% shares26/07/2016

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

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
Incorporated2000-07-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC64910 — Financial leasing

Registered office

The Grayes Main Street
Cropthorne
Pershore
Worcestershire
WR10 3LU
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-09
Last: 2025-07-26

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

AINSWORTH, Anthony John→
director · ~70y · appointed 2000-07-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LEES, Lawrence Henry→
secretary · appointed 2000-07-26 · resigned 2025-05-12
Resigned
LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-07-26 · resigned 2000-07-26
Resigned
LEES, Eileen Margaret→
director · ~97y · appointed 2000-07-26 · resigned 2014-01-31
Resigned
LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-07-26 · resigned 2000-07-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (63 total)

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-04-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-10
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-05-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-10
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2022-06-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-13
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-30