ACANTHUS ONLINE LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC477405 · ltd · incorporated 2014-05-12
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
£-78.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 47760
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 82990Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 74/100 (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: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -81% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

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, 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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
30 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
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 · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £78,159
Cash draining
Cash down 81% YoY
Cash YoY
-81%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£501
↓ 81% YoY
Net Worth
-£78k
↑ 5.5% YoY
Current Assets
£3k
↓ 60% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£83k-£65k-£46k-£28k-£10k£8kJul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Total assets£-52.2k£-51.8k
Current assets£3.2k£7.9k
Cash£501£2.7k
Debtors—£2.8k
Net assets£-78.2k£-82.7k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-09-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-07-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-05-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2023-05-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2023-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-07-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-05-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2021-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-02-25
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2018-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-04-07
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  16. 2017-04-07
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  17. 2016-12-01
    ➕
    BRUCE, Annabel Lenette appointed
    director
  18. 2016-12-01
    ➖
    DYER, Owen Thomas resigned
    director
  19. 2014-05-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACANTHUS ONLINE LTD.
  20. 2014-05-12
    ➕
    DYER, Owen Thomas appointed
    director

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

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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ms Annabel Bruce
Individual · British · DOB 10/1969 · age 57
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/12/2016

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2014-05-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47760 — SIC 47760

Registered office

58 Long Lane
Broughty Ferry
Dundee
DD5 1HH
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-26
Last: 2025-05-12

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

BRUCE, Annabel Lenette→
director · ~57y · appointed 2016-12-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DYER, Owen Thomas→
director · ~36y · appointed 2014-05-12 · resigned 2016-12-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (30 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-05-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-05-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-05-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-30