ACORN CONSTRUCTION (SOUTHERN) LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
07753663 · ltd · incorporated 2011-08-26
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
£41.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Construction of domestic buildings
Sector: Construction
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 74/100 (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: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -89% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).
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 (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
44 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
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 £41,394
Net assets shrinking
Down £36,341 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 89% YoY
Cash YoY
-89%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£7k
↓ 89% YoY
Net Worth
£41k
↓ 47% YoY
Current Assets
£134k
↓ 29% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-06-30 | 2024-06-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £43.7k | £88.9k |
| Current assets | £134.2k | £190.2k |
| Cash | £7.0k | £65.7k |
| Debtors | £127.3k | £124.5k |
| Net assets | £41.4k | £77.7k |
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
4
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 address
- • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2026-02-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2026-01-22📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2026-01-22📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2026-01-22📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-04-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-12-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-09📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2020-10-09📄withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statementpersons-with-significant-control · PSC09
- 2020-09-21📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2020-03-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-03-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-26📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-03-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2015-06-05➖BURKE, Heidi resigneddirector
- 2011-08-26🏢Company incorporatedAs ACORN CONSTRUCTION (SOUTHERN) LIMITED
- 2011-08-26➕SKIPP, David John appointeddirector
- 2011-08-26➕BURKE, Heidi appointeddirector
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
58/100
Strong succession signalMultiple 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.
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
David John Skipp Individual · British · DOB 01/1969 · age 57 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 27/08/2020 |
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 · Construction · BH postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A D S SERVICES (UK) LTD→ 09083528 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| A.E. ADAMS (ESTATES) LIMITED→ 14985839 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| A.E.C. (SOUTH WEST) ELECTRICAL LIMITED→ 02267825 · est 1988 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 37y | — | — |
| ACERO SERVICES LIMITED→ 06222939 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| ACORN PLASTERING CONTRACTORS LIMITED→ 07127480 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| ACP WINDOWS LTD→ 12384258 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ACTA CRANE HIRE LIMITED→ 15534823 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ACTION ALARMS LIMITED→ 03705666 · est 1999 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 27y | — | — |
| ACTIVE ENERGY UK LIMITED→ 06372130 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| ADAM J. MELDAN LIMITED→ 01090423 · est 1973 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 53y | — | — |
| ADAM PLANT FLOORING LTD→ 08752630 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ADAM REVELEY CONTRACTING SERVICES LTD→ 14835810 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2011-08-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC41202 — Construction of domestic buildings
Registered office
Alum House 5 Alum Chine Road
Westbourne
Bournemouth
Dorset
BH4 8DT
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-09
Last: 2025-08-26
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
SKIPP, David John→
Activedirector · ~57y · appointed 2011-08-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BURKE, Heidi→
Resigneddirector · ~53y · appointed 2011-08-26 · resigned 2015-06-05
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (44 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-19
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-01-22
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-01-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-01-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-16
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2020-10-09