ACORN SPENCER LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
06296883 · ltd · incorporated 2007-06-29
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
£196.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other engineering activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong 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 (79/100)

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 (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
57 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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £196,645
Net assets shrinking
Down £55,118 YoY
Cash YoY
-0%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£155k
~ YoY
Net Worth
£197k
↓ 22% YoY
Current Assets
£485k
↓ 28% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£134k£268k£402k£536k£670kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£255.8k£343.6k
Current assets£484.7k£670.2k
Cash£155.2k£155.7k
Debtors£276.3k£451.6k
Net assets£196.6k£251.8k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-11-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2022-11-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2022-11-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2022-11-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2022-11-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2021-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-01-16
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2019-01-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2019-01-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2018-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-09-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2014-11-01
    ➖
    FAULKNER, Suzanne Mary resigned
    secretary
  19. 2014-11-01
    ➖
    FAULKNER, Graham Paul resigned
    director
  20. 2014-11-01
    ➖
    FAULKNER, Suzanne Mary resigned
    director
  21. 2011-06-30
    ➕
    SPENCER, Paul Darryl appointed
    director
  22. 2007-06-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN SPENCER LIMITED
  23. 2007-06-29
    ➕
    FAULKNER, Suzanne Mary appointed
    secretary
  24. 2007-06-29
    ➕
    FAULKNER, Graham Paul appointed
    director
  25. 2007-06-29
    ➕
    FAULKNER, Suzanne Mary appointed
    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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "SPENCER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 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 Paul Darryl Spencer
Individual · British · DOB 03/1969 · age 57
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/07/2016

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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12087515 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
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13555430 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
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ACEX GROUP LTD→
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ACORN PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION LTD→
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ACRE SOLUTIONS LIMITED→
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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
Incorporated2007-06-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities

Registered office

27 Priory Road West Moors
Ferndown
Dorset
BH22 0AY
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-13
Last: 2025-06-29

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

SPENCER, Paul Darryl→
director · ~57y · appointed 2011-06-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FAULKNER, Suzanne Mary→
secretary · appointed 2007-06-29 · resigned 2014-11-01
Resigned
FAULKNER, Graham Paul→
director · ~71y · appointed 2007-06-29 · resigned 2014-11-01
Resigned
FAULKNER, Suzanne Mary→
director · ~70y · appointed 2007-06-29 · resigned 2014-11-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (57 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-11-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-11-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-11-11
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-11-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-11-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-10