A mighty oak?
As Acorn looks increasingly likely to bid for ownership of the Saxonvale site in Frome, we take a look at the company and try and make sense of it.
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A mighty oak?
This week we take a closer look at Acorn, the property developer.
Acorn were one of two businesses bidding to take develop the Saxonvale site in the heart of Frome. As Mendip District Council’s developer of choice, they have already had a planning application submitted and approved. Only for it to be turned down on appeal by the Planning Inspector.
Now with Somerset Council selling any assets they can to raise cash, the Saxonvale site is being sold off. There are likely to be two bidders. First there is Acorn whose plans were disliked by town council and the vast majority of the people of Frome who expressed a view. And then Mayday Saxonvale, whose plans the Froomies loved (as did the town council), but Mendip District Council and latterly Somerset Council were less fond of.
However, as Somerset Council has inherited a pre-existing relationship with Acorn, suspicions in Frome are rife that Acorn will end up with the site.
Somerset Council deny this and have said that bids will be assessed on their own merit, regardless of any pre-existing relationships. However as the transaction is likely to be deemed commercially confidential, members of the public are unlikely to have clarity over the fairness of the bidding process.
Which is why Somerset Confidential has been taking a look at Acorn, the developer who would like to be in charge of this crucial piece of Frome real estate.
Who are Acorn? Although the group uses a glossy website called Acorn Property Group and employees have @acornpg.org email addresses, not all of the companies in the group use the Acorn name and the parent company, at least according to the latest accounts of its subsidiaries, is not called Acorn at all, but RST Residential Investments Limited.
Who owns it?
Who really does own Acorn is not that easy to say. The group contains dozens of subsidiaries. We looked at the accounts of a handful of them including Acorn Bruton Limited. All (including the parent company) last filed accounts to 30 September 2022.
All the subsidiaries we looked at had a note to the accounts for the “Ultimate Controlling Party”. These explained that RST Residential Investments Limited was the Ultimate Parent Company. At least until the 10 February 2023.
RST Residential Investments Limited was the Ultimate Parent Company
They did not explain, however, who the Ultimate Controlling Party was (as the title of the note seemed to promise). The Ultimate Controlling Party does not have to be a company, though sometimes it is. If any one person has significant control (usually more than 75% of the shares) over the top company in a group, then they are considered to be the Ultimate Controlling Party.
When we look at the accounts of RST Residential Investments Limited (the Ultimate Parent Company of the subsidiaries we looked at) the “Ultimate Controlling Party” is disclosed to be a completely different business: RST Highgate Investment Trust.