ACORN (MK) NURSERIES LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
08389921 · ltd · incorporated 2013-02-05
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 10.7y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46220
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 10.7y
85/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 10.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (78/100)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 (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
28 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
75
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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-05-31 | 2024-05-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 1000 | 1000 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2026-02-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-11-03📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2016-04-11📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-10-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2015-09-04📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2015-09-03🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
- 2015-02-24📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2013-02-05🏢Company incorporatedAs ACORN (MK) NURSERIES LIMITED
- 2013-02-05➕BURCHMORE, Stephen John appointeddirector
- 2013-02-05➕PRETTY, Ian appointeddirector
Owner dependency
78/100
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.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
79/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Stephen John Burchmore Individual · British · DOB 02/1957 · age 69 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Ian Pretty Individual · British · DOB 05/1954 · age 72 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Wholesale & distribution · MK postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A B FRUITS LIMITED→ 05651085 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| A.C. SUPPLY LIMITED→ 02323194 · est 1988 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 37y | — | — |
| A1 FOODS BEDFORD LTD→ 13868414 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| A2S' STUDIO LTD→ 15921282 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACRUK LTD→ 15313980 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ADA COSMETICS INTERNATIONAL LTD→ 02850917 · est 1993 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 32y | — | — |
| ADWOA CORP LTD→ 14301680 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AE STEEL CO LTD→ 13356528 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| AENSO UK LIMITED→ 15895325 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AES ELECTRICAL WHOLESALER LTD→ 16395393 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AFAHAH LTD→ 09351642 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| AFL TELECOMMUNICATIONS UK LIMITED→ 02734823 · est 1992 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 33y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2013-02-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC46220 — SIC 46220
Registered office
222 Wolverton Road
Blakelands
Milton Keynes
Buckinghamshire
MK14 5AB
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-19
Last: 2026-02-05
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
BURCHMORE, Stephen John→
Activedirector · ~69y · appointed 2013-02-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
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 | HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 03/09/2015 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (28 total)
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-03-04