ACORN EDUCATION TRUST

🌳Matureactive

07654902 · private-limited-guarant-nsc-limited-exemption · incorporated 2011-06-01

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

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

75/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Primary education

Sector: Education

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

85310General secondary education

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (57/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

31 officers (14 active, 31 linked, 28 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

3 active PSC(s) of 6 total, 6 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

99 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

75/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 4 persons-with-significant-control
• 3 officers
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (72 events)Click to expand

2026-01-29
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-01-28
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2026-01-28
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2026-01-28
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2026-01-28
📄
withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
2026-01-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-group
accounts · AA
2025-12-19
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-12-19
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-12-18
➕
MADDOCKS, Gillian Mary appointed
director
2025-12-18
➕
TAYLOR, Nicholas Anthony appointed
director
2025-09-03
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-08-31
➖
EDWARDS, Sara Jeane resigned
director
2025-07-24
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC08
2025-07-24
📄
withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
2025-07-24
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-07-24
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-07-24
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-07-16
➖
COWAN, John resigned
director
2025-07-16
➖
JOHNSON, David Gordon resigned
director
2025-07-16
➖
VODDEN, Sarah Anne resigned
director
2025-04-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-group
accounts · AA
2024-07-23
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-07-23
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-07-18
➕
BALE, Susan Daphne appointed
director
2024-07-18
➕
MARSH, Richard appointed
director
2024-05-22
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC08
2024-05-22
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-05-22
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-05-22
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-03-27
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-03-15
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2024-03-14
➕
GOSLING, Gillian Claire appointed
director
2023-07-21
➖
GOSLING, Gillian Claire resigned
director
2022-11-09
➕
EVANS, Olivia Jane appointed
director
2022-07-19
➖
COWAN, Heather resigned
director
2022-03-02
➕
VODDEN, Sarah Anne appointed
director
2021-12-02
➕
WHITEHEAD-WHITING, Susan appointed
director
2020-02-13
➕
SEDGLEY, Alan John appointed
director
2019-11-20
➖
CROW, Richard Anthony resigned
director
2019-06-04
➖
ROBINSON, Kevin, Dr resigned
director
2019-03-14
➕
EDWARDS, Allen, Rev appointed
director
2019-01-01
➕
SIMPSON, Fiona appointed
secretary
2018-12-31
➖
GEORGE, Sandra Louise resigned
secretary
2018-07-31
➖
HAMPSON, Jennifer Emily resigned
director
2018-07-09
➕
COWAN, Heather appointed
director
2018-06-19
➕
MORGAN, Thomas appointed
director
2018-04-20
➕
HENDRICKSE, Richard Ward appointed
director
2018-04-01
➕
COWAN, John appointed
director
2018-03-15
➕
JOHNSON, David Gordon appointed
director
2017-11-30
➕
GOSLING, Gillian Claire appointed
director

Showing most recent 50 of 72 events

Owner dependency

55/100

Moderate — manageable with handover

Some founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.

FACTORS

-13 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

73/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 77 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 med ·

4 director resignations in last 12 months

medium

Multiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.

Evidence: COWAN, John resigned 2025-07-16; EDWARDS, Sara Jeane resigned 2025-08-31; JOHNSON, David Gordon resigned 2025-07-16

Shareholders & ownership

3 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Andrew James Armstrong Individual · British · DOB 03/1961 · age 65	—	—	board controlboard control	01/09/2025
Mrs Gillian Claire Gosling Individual · British · DOB 06/1958 · age 68	—	—	board controlboard control	01/09/2025
Mr Thomas Morgan Individual · British · DOB 10/1981 · age 45	—	—	board controlboard control	01/09/2025

3 historic (ceased) PSCs

Mr David George Middletonceased 29/02/2024· 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · trust interest
Mr Andrew James Armstrongceased 29/02/2024· 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · trust interest
Mr Thomas Morganceased 29/02/2024· 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · trust interest

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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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeprivate-limited-guarant-nsc-limited-exemption

Incorporated2011-06-01

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC85200 — Primary education

Registered office

Kingdown School

Woodcock Road

Warminster

Wiltshire

BA12 9DR

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-15

Last: 2025-06-01