ACORN CLASSIC AUTOMOTIVE LTD

🌳Matureactive
04282847 · ltd · incorporated 2001-09-06
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 52103SIC 52103
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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, 2 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
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
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.

Key financials

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

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-10-04
    ➕
    CADLE, Gemma Mary appointed
    secretary
  5. 2023-10-04
    ➖
    CADLE, Jennifer Audrey resigned
    secretary
  6. 2023-10-04
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  7. 2023-10-04
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  8. 2023-10-04
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  9. 2023-10-04
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  10. 2023-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-06-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-04-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-07-08
    ➕
    CADLE, Nicholas David appointed
    director
  15. 2019-07-08
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  16. 2019-04-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  19. 2001-09-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN CLASSIC AUTOMOTIVE LTD
  20. 2001-09-06
    ➕
    CADLE, Peter Nicholas appointed
    director
  21. 2001-09-06
    ➕
    CADLE, Jennifer Audrey appointed
    secretary
  22. 2001-09-06
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2001-09-06
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2001-09-06
    ➕
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2001-09-06
    ➖
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

84/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

66/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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 Peter Nicholas Cadle
Individual · English · DOB 11/1965 · age 61
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Jennifer Audrey Cadleceased 04/10/2023· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Automotive · OX postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
1ST STOP MOT & SERVICE LTD→
07825857 · est 2011 · no financials extracted
————14y——
213 PERFORMANCE LIMITED→
10451911 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
————9y——
A. PEIRCE LIMITED→
04178663 · est 2001 · no financials extracted
————25y——
A.P. MOTOR ENGINEERS LIMITED→
05910899 · est 2006 · no financials extracted
————19y——
A&A AUTOMOTIVE LTD→
15764000 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
A2B ELITE DETAILING LTD→
15388474 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————2y——
ABDIA TRADING LTD→
11498929 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
————7y——
ABINGDON VEHICLE SERVICES LIMITED→
04705713 · est 2003 · no financials extracted
————23y——
ABSOLUTE AUTO CARS LTD→
11406926 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
————7y——
ABSOLUTE AUTONOMY LIMITED→
05496477 · est 2005 · no financials extracted
————20y——
ACCIDENT SOLUTION CENTRE LIMITED→
06011353 · est 2006 · no financials extracted
————19y——
ADR SERVICE & REPAIRS LIMITED→
05620471 · est 2005 · no financials extracted
————20y——
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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
Incorporated2001-09-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

16 Heather Road
Bicester
Oxfordshire
OX26 3YU

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-21
Last: 2025-10-07

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

CADLE, Gemma Mary→
secretary · appointed 2023-10-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CADLE, Nicholas David→
director · ~29y · appointed 2019-07-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CADLE, Peter Nicholas→
director · ~61y · appointed 2001-09-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CADLE, Jennifer Audrey→
secretary · appointed 2001-09-06 · resigned 2023-10-04
Resigned
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-09-06 · resigned 2001-09-06
Resigned
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-09-06 · resigned 2001-09-06
Resigned

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

Recent filings (63 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-05-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-07
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2023-10-04
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2023-10-04
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-10-04
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-10-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-12