ACORN MAINTENANCE SYSTEMS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04518274 · ltd · incorporated 2002-08-23
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 80). 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 (76/100)

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 (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
61 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 · FRS 102
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Average employees1100

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-08-07
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2023-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-10-21
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2022-10-21
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  8. 2022-10-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2022-10-21
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2022-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-06-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-03-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-06-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2003-07-31
    ➕
    FOWLER, Jonathon Harry appointed
    secretary
  17. 2003-07-31
    ➖
    FOWLER, Helen resigned
    secretary
  18. 2002-09-05
    ➕
    FOWLER, Harry appointed
    director
  19. 2002-09-05
    ➕
    FOWLER, Helen appointed
    secretary
  20. 2002-09-05
    ➖
    MIDLANDS SECRETARIAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2002-09-05
    ➖
    ALLSOPP, Nicholas James resigned
    nominee-director
  22. 2002-08-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN MAINTENANCE SYSTEMS LIMITED
  23. 2002-08-23
    ➕
    MIDLANDS SECRETARIAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2002-08-23
    ➕
    ALLSOPP, Nicholas James appointed
    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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — 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 80 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Harry Fowler
Individual · British · DOB 09/1946 · age 80
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control30/06/2016

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

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———————
ALP WHOLESALE LIMITED→
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———————
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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
Incorporated2002-08-23
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade

Registered office

West Point, Second Floor Mucklow Office Park
Mucklow Hill
Halesowen
West Midlands
B62 8DY
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-20
Last: 2025-08-06

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

FOWLER, Jonathon Harry→
secretary · appointed 2003-07-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FOWLER, Harry→
director · ~80y · appointed 2002-09-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FOWLER, Helen→
secretary · appointed 2002-09-05 · resigned 2003-07-31
Resigned
MIDLANDS SECRETARIAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-08-23 · resigned 2002-09-05
Resigned
ALLSOPP, Nicholas James→
nominee-director · ~68y · appointed 2002-08-23 · resigned 2002-09-05
Resigned

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

Recent filings (61 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-08
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-08-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-10-21
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2022-10-21
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-10-21
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-11