ACORN BATCHWORKS LTD
💤Zombieactive
07139679 · ltd · incorporated 2010-01-28
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 Jan 2026
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
35 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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2026-01-31 | 2025-01-31 |
|---|
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2026-03-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2025-03-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-02-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-05-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-05-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2020-04-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-10-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-02-01📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-03-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2015-02-05📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-10-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2010-01-28🏢Company incorporatedAs ACORN BATCHWORKS LTD
- 2010-01-28➕DEANUS, Graeme Robert appointeddirector
Owner dependency
98/100
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 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
- +No director turnover: Company is 16 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
88/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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 Graeme Robert Deanus Individual · British · DOB 09/1962 · age 64 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Other · NE postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GRAND PARADE MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 05554944 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| 374 DURHAM ROAD MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED→ 08867733 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| 42 ALMA PLACE MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED→ 05793675 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| 50/52 SHIELD STREET MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED→ 06947702 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| 55 DEGREES NORTH FIRE PROTECTION LTD→ 16558751 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 55 DEGREES NORTH RTM COMPANY LIMITED→ 08648996 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| 6 ASHLAKE ROAD MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ 04496288 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| AAEOT LIMITED→ 14477891 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ABN TRUST→ 15479707 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AC PSYCHOLOGY LTD→ 12868087 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ACHIEVING REAL CHANGE IN COMMUNITIES CIC→ 08880373 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ACORN LASER EOT LIMITED→ 16661671 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2010-01-28
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999
Registered office
Acorn Laser Ltd
3 Armstrong Road
Washington
Tyne And Wear
NE37 1PR
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-10-31
Last made up to: 2026-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-21
Last: 2026-01-07
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
DEANUS, Graeme Robert→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2010-01-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (35 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-03-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-03-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-02-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-05-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-04-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-04-29