ACORN PUB COMPANY LTD
💤Zombieactive
13291018 · ltd · incorporated 2021-03-25
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
£-82.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Public houses and bars
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 72/100 (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, 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
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
15 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
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
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £82,107
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£24k
Net Worth
-£82k
Current Assets
£43k
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-82.1k | — |
| Current assets | £43.4k | — |
| Cash | £23.8k | — |
| Debtors | £10.0k | — |
| Net assets | £-82.1k | — |
| Average employees | — | 600 |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
4
filings
- • 2 officers
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 address
Last 180 days
5
filings
- • 2 officers
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 address
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (15 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-02📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2026-03-18📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2026-03-18📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2026-03-15➖LILLEY, Thomas Christopher Bateman resigneddirector
- 2025-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-11📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-10-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-07📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-03-25🏢Company incorporatedAs ACORN PUB COMPANY LTD
- 2021-03-25➕LILLEY, Erika Sonia appointedsecretary
- 2021-03-25➕STUBBINGS, Giles Andrew appointeddirector
- 2021-03-25➕LILLEY, Thomas Christopher Bateman appointeddirector
- 2021-03-25📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
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
45/100
Moderate signalSome 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
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 Thomas Christopher Bateman Lilley Individual · English · DOB 12/1977 · age 49 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 25/03/2021 |
Mr Giles Andrew Stubbings Individual · English · DOB 01/1980 · age 46 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 25/03/2021 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Hospitality · CV postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1664 BARS LTD→ 16022502 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 3WAYS FOODS LIMITED→ 15751180 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| A GOOD CATCH LTD→ 13632968 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| A1 PROPERTIES (MIDLANDS) LTD→ 12110907 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| AAYAN FOODS LIMITED→ 12161490 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| ABC’S ITALIAN LTD→ 16242792 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACCOMCONSULT LTD→ 15620532 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ACCURO HOUSING LTD→ 13229644 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ACUITY PROPERTY SERVICES LIMITED→ 07220216 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| ADA COVENTRY CIC→ 16444344 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADAM BROWN CHEF LIMITED→ 08367309 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| ADDISCOMBE ROAD MANAGMENT COMPANY LIMITED→ 06408014 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2021-03-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC56302 — Public houses and bars
Registered office
Duck On The Pond The Green
Long Itchington
Southam
CV47 9QJ
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-07
Last: 2026-03-24
Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)
LILLEY, Erika Sonia→
Activesecretary · appointed 2021-03-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
STUBBINGS, Giles Andrew→
Activedirector · ~46y · appointed 2021-03-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
LILLEY, Thomas Christopher Bateman→
Resigneddirector · ~49y · appointed 2021-03-25 · resigned 2026-03-15
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (15 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-05
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-02
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-03-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-04-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-03-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-07
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2021-03-25