ACORN PAINTING & DECORATING LTD
🌳Matureactive
08311637 · ltd · incorporated 2012-11-28
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 13.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£3.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Painting
Sector: Construction
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 13.3y
85/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 13.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
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
32 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Positive net assets
Net assets £3,899
Net assets shrinking
Down £17,062 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£4k
↓ 81% YoY
Current Assets
£111k
↓ 17% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £20.0k | £41.4k |
| Current assets | £110.6k | £133.1k |
| Cash | — | £70.7k |
| Debtors | — | £59.5k |
| Net assets | £3.9k | £21.0k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-06-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-13📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-26📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2019-03-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-28📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2017-06-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-08📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2013-02-25🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Bibby Financial Services LTD (As Security Trustee)
- 2012-11-28🏢Company incorporatedAs ACORN PAINTING & DECORATING LTD
- 2012-11-28➕MURRAY, Ian Edward appointeddirector
- 2012-11-28➕OAKES, Jamie appointeddirector
Owner dependency
63/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
49/100
Moderate signalSome succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.
SIGNALS
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ian Murray Individual · British · DOB 10/1971 · age 55 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Jamie Oakes Individual · British · DOB 08/1981 · age 45 | 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
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A BROWN PROPERTY SOLUTIONS LTD→ 10940524 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| A&F BUILDERS DEV LTD→ 16097254 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ABLEMASTER BUILDING SERVICES LIMITED→ 04174831 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| AC-ELECTRICAL-NETWORKS.COM LTD→ 09520539 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| ACCESS FIRE AND SECURITY ENGINEERING SERVICES LTD→ 13146832 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ACE BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LIMITED→ 16351613 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACE GAS NW LTD→ 10679474 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ACE ROOFING AND GUTTERS LIMITED→ 14173540 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ACME PROJECTS LTD→ 16840869 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ACRE DEVELOPMENTS (NW) LIMITED→ 16112572 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACUMEN BUILDING SOLUTIONS LTD→ 13944581 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ACUMINE PROJECT CONTROLS LTD→ 13848734 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2012-11-28
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43341 — Painting
Registered office
131 Jackfield Way
Skelmersdale
WN8 6EU
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-29
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-26
Last: 2025-12-12
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
MURRAY, Ian Edward→
Activedirector · ~55y · appointed 2012-11-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
OAKES, Jamie→
Activedirector · ~45y · appointed 2012-11-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
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
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Bibby Financial Services Bibby Financial Services LTD (As Security Trustee) | Debenture | 1 property | 25/02/2013 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (32 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-02-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-13