ACORN CHIMNEY SWEEPS LTD
💤Zombieactive
04707703 · ltd · incorporated 2003-03-21
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£7.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Furnace and chimney cleaning services
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (75/100)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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
62 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Positive net assets
Net assets £7,597
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£8k
↑ 189% YoY
Current Assets
£113
↓ 29% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-03-29 | 2024-03-29 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £8.2k | £3.2k |
| Current assets | £113 | £160 |
| Net assets | £7.6k | £2.6k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
1 signal 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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
- 2025-10-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-30📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2021-10-28📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-10-28📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2021-10-28📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2021-10-28📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-09-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-31📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2018-12-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2003-03-31➕LANCASTER, Sheryl appointedsecretary
- 2003-03-31➕LANCASTER, Ian appointeddirector
- 2003-03-26➖FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2003-03-26➖FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD resignedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2003-03-21🏢Company incorporatedAs ACORN CHIMNEY SWEEPS LTD
- 2003-03-21➕FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2003-03-21➕FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD appointedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
85/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
75/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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
cleanNo 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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Ian Lancaster Individual · British · DOB 01/1976 · age 50 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| AFS FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP LTD→ 14906013 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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| AGNAR GROUP LTD→ 15723497 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AGRATECH NW LTD→ 07227291 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| AGRISOIL LIMITED→ 11259899 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AH ELITECLEAN SERVICES LTD→ 16886424 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AH ENERGY SERVICES LIMITED→ 11880465 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| AHC SERVICES LTD→ 15968453 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AHKB LTD→ 16179361 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AIREDALE CLEANING SERVICES LIMITED→ 14677246 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2003-03-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC81223 — Furnace and chimney cleaning services
Registered office
High Trees 5 Arbory Drive
Padiham
Burnley
BB12 8JS
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-29
Last made up to: 2025-03-29
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last: 2026-03-17
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
Active
LANCASTER, Ian→
Activedirector · ~50y · appointed 2003-03-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-03-21 · resigned 2003-03-26
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-03-21 · resigned 2003-03-26
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (62 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-29
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2021-12-30
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-10-28
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2021-10-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-10-28
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-10-28