ACORN BUSINESS TRAINING LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC702546 · ltd · incorporated 2021-06-25
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£-2.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other education n.e.c.
Sector: Education
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

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. 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 (72/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
12 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £2,078

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
-£2k
Current Assets
£1k
Current Liabilities

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-12-31
Total assets£-2.1k
Current assets£1.2k
Net assets£-2.1k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (10 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-28
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  3. 2024-03-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-23
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  6. 2022-09-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2022-09-13
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  8. 2021-06-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACORN BUSINESS TRAINING LTD
  9. 2021-06-25
    CLARK, Faye Alison appointed
    director
  10. 2021-06-25
    📄
    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

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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ms Faye Alison Clark
Individual · Scottish · DOB 05/1974 · age 52
2550%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control25/06/2021

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 →

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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
Incorporated2021-06-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85590 — Other education n.e.c.

Registered office

55a Canal Street
Paisley
PA1 2HQ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-08
Last: 2025-06-24

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CLARK, Faye Alison
director · ~52y · appointed 2021-06-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (12 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-09
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-23
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2022-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-09-22
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2022-09-13
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2021-06-25