ACORN CREATIVE ENTERPRISES LTD.

💤Zombieactive

SC245327 · ltd · incorporated 2003-03-10

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

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Artistic creation

Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 74). 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: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

51 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

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

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2025-12-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-12-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-06-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-06-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-03-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-12-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-12-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-03-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-03-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-04-03
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-04-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2003-03-10
🏢
Company incorporated
As ACORN CREATIVE ENTERPRISES LTD.
2003-03-10
➕
PITT, Evelyn appointed
secretary
2003-03-10
➕
PITT, John appointed
director
2003-03-10
➕
DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-03-10
➖
DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-03-10
➕
DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2003-03-10
➖
DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100

Critical — business is the founder

The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.

FACTORS

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

clean

No 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 John Pitt Individual · British · DOB 01/1952 · age 74	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	01/06/2016

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

Active · Leisure & entertainment · FK postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
BLAIRDRUMMOND COMMUNITY HALL ASSOCIATION→ SC264907 · est 2004	—	—	—	0	22y	83	78y
CLACKMANNANSHIRE HERITAGE TRUST→ SC112838 · est 1988 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	37y	83	70y
THE DUNBLANE SPORTS CLUB LIMITED→ SC068507 · est 1979	—	—	£430.9k	—	46y	83	75y
EXECUTIVE GOLF & LEISURE LIMITED→ SC164979 · est 1996	—	—	£457.1k	—	30y	82	65y
FALKIRK SCHOOL OF GYMNASTICS TRUST LIMITED→ SC100129 · est 1986	—	—	£9.7k	—	39y	81	82y
MCLAREN COMMUNITY LEISURE CENTRE (TRADING) LIMITED→ SC156034 · est 1995 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	31y	81	83y
STIRLING DISTRICT TOURISM LIMITED→ SC156924 · est 1995 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	31y	81	69y
STIRLING INDOOR BOWLING CLUB LIMITED→ SC113528 · est 1988	—	—	—	6	37y	81	79y
ACTION ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES LIMITED→ SC288644 · est 2005	—	—	—	300	20y	80	60y
AIRTH HIGHLAND GATHERING (1999) LIMITED→ SC199949 · est 1999	—	—	—	2	26y	80	67y
ALLOA FOOTBALL AND ATHLETIC CLUB, LIMITED→ SC010309 · est 1919 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	107y	80	81y
EAST STIRLINGSHIRE FOOTBALL AND ATHLETIC CLUB LIMITED (THE)→ SC007575 · est 1910	—	—	—	—	115y	80	58y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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

Incorporated2003-03-10

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC90030 — Artistic creation

Registered office

4 Moubray Gardens

Cambus

Clackmannanshire

FK10 2NQ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-24

Last: 2026-03-10

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

PITT, Evelyn→

secretary · appointed 2003-03-10

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

PITT, John→

director · ~74y · appointed 2003-03-10

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-03-10 · resigned 2003-03-10

Resigned

DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-03-10 · resigned 2003-03-10

Resigned

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

Recent filings (51 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-03-19

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2025-12-24

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-03-25

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2024-12-03

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-03-21

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2023-06-01

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-03-21

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2022-06-13

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-03-21

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2021-12-31

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2021-03-30

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-03-17

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-03-23

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2019-09-30

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2019-03-18