ACORN TRAVEL (UK) LTD
🌿Early-stageactive
14518910 · ltd · incorporated 2022-12-01
Investment thesis
Growth-phase business — story-led; valuation sensitive to momentum.
Why interesting: Trading is scaling; acquirers paying for trajectory get disproportionate leverage.
Why risky: Price often leads fundamentals; dependency on founder often high.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 49390
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and acceptable with review structure.
Opportunity 71/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. 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).
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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
14 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
60
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.
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 | 2025-04-30 | 2024-04-30 |
|---|
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 signals 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 (16 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-06📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-06-04📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-06-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-08📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2023-02-07📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-02-07📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-02-07📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2023-02-07📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2022-12-01🏢Company incorporatedAs ACORN TRAVEL (UK) LTD
- 2022-12-01➕KING, Paul Desmond appointeddirector
- 2022-12-01➕KING, Vicki appointeddirector
- 2022-12-01➕KING, Paul Desmond appointeddirector
- 2022-12-01➖KING, Paul Desmond resigneddirector
- 2022-12-01📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
66/100
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.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
36/100
Weak signalLimited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.
SIGNALS
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
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
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Paul Desmond King Individual · British · DOB 02/1985 · age 41 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 01/12/2022 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Paul Desmond Kingceased 01/12/2022· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Transport & logistics · NG postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 365-247 COURIERS LIMITED→ 16722881 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 FIVE 2'S MANSFIELD LIMITED→ 16462994 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| A BRITISH COURIER LTD→ 16385735 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| A&A MANAGEMENT AND SERVICES LIMITED→ 13924403 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| A1 PRIVATE HIRE LTD→ 12627072 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| A2ANYWHERE LTD→ 10888275 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ACNUM LTD→ 15834129 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ADELANTE TEAM LTD→ 15277541 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ADIKUS LTD→ 16805258 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ADL EXPRESS LTD→ 15984487 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ADRIAN DRIVING LTD→ 09836194 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| ADW LOGISTICS LIMITED→ 10357559 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2022-12-01
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC49390 — SIC 49390
Registered office
29 Smithy Crescent
Arnold
Nottingham
NG5 7FS
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-14
Last: 2025-11-30
Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)
KING, Paul Desmond→
Activedirector · ~41y · appointed 2022-12-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
KING, Paul Desmond→
Resigneddirector · ~41y · appointed 2022-12-01 · resigned 2022-12-01
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (14 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-06-06
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-06-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-06-08
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2023-06-08
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-02-07
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-02-07
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-02-07
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-02-07
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2022-12-01