ACORN TRANSPORT AND PLANT HIRE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04990620 · ltd · incorporated 2003-12-10
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.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
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Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£3.47M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other transportation support activities
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 22.1y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 22.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
53 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 £3,472,464
Cash YoY
-28%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£540k
↓ 28% YoY
Net Worth
£3.5m
↑ 6.2% YoY
Current Assets
£3.1m
↓ 5.6% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£694k£1.4m£2.1m£2.8m£3.5mApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£4.45M£4.18M
Current assets£3.09M£3.27M
Cash£539.5k£750.6k
Debtors£2.43M£2.36M
Net assets£3.47M£3.27M

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-10-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-09-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-10-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-12-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-08-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2014-12-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2014-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2013-12-11
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2004-05-21
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  17. 2003-12-11
    ➕
    STEVENSON, Elizabeth appointed
    secretary
  18. 2003-12-11
    ➖
    WHITE ROSE FORMATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  19. 2003-12-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN TRANSPORT AND PLANT HIRE LIMITED
  20. 2003-12-10
    ➕
    STEVENSON, Elizabeth appointed
    director
  21. 2003-12-10
    ➕
    STEVENSON, Jason Simon appointed
    director
  22. 2003-12-10
    ➕
    WHITE ROSE FORMATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary

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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • 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

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

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Elizabeth Stevenson
Individual · British · DOB 11/1968 · age 58
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mr Jason Simon Stevenson
Individual · British · DOB 02/1969 · age 57
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

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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
Incorporated2003-12-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC52290 — Other transportation support activities

Registered office

Carlton House
High Street
Higham Ferrers
Northamptonshire
NN10 8BW

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-24
Last: 2025-12-10

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

STEVENSON, Elizabeth→
secretary · appointed 2003-12-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STEVENSON, Elizabeth→
director · ~58y · appointed 2003-12-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STEVENSON, Jason Simon→
director · ~57y · appointed 2003-12-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WHITE ROSE FORMATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-12-10 · resigned 2003-12-11
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Debenture1 property21/05/2004—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (53 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-12-11