ACORN CONSTRUCTION HOLDINGS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
08159947 · ltd · incorporated 2012-07-27
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 68). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 10.1y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 10.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
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
41 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Feb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-02-282024-02-28
Average employees00

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 (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2023-10-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-07-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-07-28
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2021-07-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-05-05
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2020-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-10-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-07-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-11-09
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  15. 2016-05-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  16. 2016-05-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Colin Forrest
  17. 2016-02-08
    ➖
    FOWLER, Charles Roderick Spencer resigned
    secretary
  18. 2012-07-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN CONSTRUCTION HOLDINGS LIMITED
  19. 2012-07-27
    ➕
    FORREST, Colin Ian appointed
    director
  20. 2012-07-27
    ➕
    FOWLER, Charles Roderick Spencer appointed
    secretary

Owner dependency

90/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. 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 14 years.
  • 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 Colin Ian Forrest
Individual · British · DOB 04/1958 · age 68
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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———————
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated2012-07-27
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

10a High Street
Chislehurst
BR7 5AN
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-10
Last: 2025-07-27

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

FORREST, Colin Ian→
director · ~68y · appointed 2012-07-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FOWLER, Charles Roderick Spencer→
secretary · appointed 2012-07-27 · resigned 2016-02-08
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Colin Forrest
A registered charge2 properties03/05/2016—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (41 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-21
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-08-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-05
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-20
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-05-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-27