ACORN ENTERPRISE GROUP LTD

💤Zombieactive
13284044 · ltd · incorporated 2021-03-22
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£-10.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 81300Landscape service activities
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 70/100 (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: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
20 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
70/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £10,372

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
-£10k
↑ 18% YoY
Current Assets
£1k
↑ 18% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£13k-£10k-£7k-£4k-£2k£1kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£-9.5k£-11.8k
Current assets£1.2k£1.0k
Net assets£-10.4k£-12.7k

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
2
filings
  • 1 address
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 address
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-07
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-11-21
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  3. 2025-09-01
    BATTEN, Ian John Paul resigned
    director
  4. 2025-09-01
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  5. 2025-07-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-08-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-12-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2023-12-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2023-11-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2023-11-01
    TAYLOR, Ian resigned
    secretary
  11. 2023-11-01
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  12. 2023-10-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2022-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2022-03-21
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  15. 2021-12-15
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  16. 2021-04-13
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  17. 2021-04-01
    TAYLOR, Ian appointed
    secretary
  18. 2021-03-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN ENTERPRISE GROUP LTD
  19. 2021-03-22
    BATTEN, Robert Michael Paul appointed
    director
  20. 2021-03-22
    BATTEN, Ian John Paul appointed
    director
  21. 2021-03-22
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material 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

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 med ·
Name changed recently
medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2025-11-21: certificate-change-of-name-company

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Robert Michael Paul Batten
Individual · British · DOB 10/1989 · age 37
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control22/03/2021

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2021-03-22
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47910 — Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet

Registered office

C/O Phelan Cloud Accounting 18 New Road
Clanfield
Waterlooville
Hampshire
PO8 0NS
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-21
Last: 2026-04-07

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

BATTEN, Robert Michael Paul
director · ~37y · appointed 2021-03-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TAYLOR, Ian
secretary · appointed 2021-04-01 · resigned 2023-11-01
Resigned
BATTEN, Ian John Paul
director · ~42y · appointed 2021-03-22 · resigned 2025-09-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (20 total)

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-04-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-07
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2025-11-21
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-12-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-12-22
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-11-23
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-30