ACORN PSYCHOLOGY LTD
🌳Matureactive
07420096 · ltd · incorporated 2010-10-27
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Oct 2024
Net worth
£1.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Educational support services
Sector: Education
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
41 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.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £1,275
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£32k
Net Worth
£1k
↑ 209% YoY
Current Assets
£490k
↑ 33% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-10-31 | 2023-10-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £18.1k | £27.2k |
| Current assets | £490.0k | £367.0k |
| Cash | £31.6k | — |
| Debtors | £458.4k | £367.0k |
| Net assets | £1.3k | £412 |
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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-07-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-10📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-07-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-07-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-18📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-09-18📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2020-09-18📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2018-07-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-07-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-07-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-03📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-10-15➕SHARPHOUSE, Nigel Anthony appointeddirector
- 2010-10-27🏢Company incorporatedAs ACORN PSYCHOLOGY LTD
- 2010-10-27➕GLYNN, Julie appointeddirector
Owner dependency
81/100
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
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — 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
69/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- 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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Julie Glynn Individual · British · DOB 04/1968 · age 58 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Nigel Anthony Sharphouse Individual · British · DOB 09/1965 · age 61 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 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 · Education & training · BL postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A ROBINSON MEDICAL SERVICES LTD→ 11975880 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ACADEMIA CEREBRA LIMITED→ 14134265 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ACADEMY CHILDCARE LTD→ 12488835 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ACORN NORFOLK LIMITED→ 07448673 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| ADVENTURE IN MUSIC CIC→ 16883299 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AIDING MINDS LTD→ 11692677 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ALLIANCE LEARNING→ 01619564 · est 1982 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 44y | — | — |
| ALLIANCE LEARNING TRAINING LIMITED→ 10381804 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ANDERTON CENTRE - LOAI LIMITED→ 06775169 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| ANDREA LYNETTE-YOUNG LTD→ 09709353 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| ARCHBISHOP TEMPLE CHURCH OF ENGLAND MULTI ACADEMY TRUST→ 10261477 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ARK EDUCATION BARN LIMITED→ 14230029 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2010-10-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC85600 — Educational support services
Registered office
11 Bridge Street
Bury
Lancashire
BL0 9AB
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-10
Last: 2025-10-27
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
GLYNN, Julie→
Activedirector · ~58y · appointed 2010-10-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SHARPHOUSE, Nigel Anthony→
Activedirector · ~61y · appointed 2014-10-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (41 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-17
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-04-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-09-18