AMPTON HALL ESTATES

🌳Matureactive
00322787 · private-unlimited · incorporated 1937-01-06
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
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Turnover
not disclosed
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 83-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 83). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (56/100)

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
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
9 officers (4 active, 9 linked, 6 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
67 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-22
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  2. 2025-09-22
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  3. 2025-09-22
    📄
    withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
  4. 2017-06-05
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  5. 2017-06-02
    TURNER, Edward appointed
    director
  6. 2016-12-21
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-new-address
    address · AD02
  7. 2016-01-20
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  8. 2015-01-22
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  9. 2014-01-10
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  10. 2013-01-09
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  11. 2012-12-11
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name
    officers · TM01
  12. 2012-11-26
    TURNER, Joseph Morris resigned
    director
  13. 2012-01-20
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2011-01-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2010-10-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2010-10-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  17. 2010-01-06
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2005-03-18
    TURNER, Benjamin Joseph David appointed
    director
  19. 2003-12-22
    TURNER, Benjamin Joseph David appointed
    secretary
  20. 2003-12-22
    TURNER, David John resigned
    secretary
  21. 2003-12-22
    TURNER, David John resigned
    director
  22. 1996-01-13
    TURNER, Ellen Ferguson resigned
    director
  23. 1993-01-25
    TURNER, David John appointed
    secretary
  24. 1993-01-25
    TURNER, Ellen Ferguson resigned
    secretary
  25. 1937-01-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AMPTON HALL ESTATES

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 83 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100
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 83 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 89 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

2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Gerard Francis Smith
Individual · English · DOB 10/1966 · age 60
75100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence · trust interest08/09/2023
Mrs Josephine Anne Sheppard
Individual · British · DOB 01/1943 · age 83
75100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence · trust interest06/04/2016

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 →

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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 →
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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
Typeprivate-unlimited
Incorporated1937-01-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

Ampton Hall
Ampton
Bury St. Edmunds
Suffolk
IP31 1HU

Filing status

Accounts
Next due:
Last made up to:
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-14
Last: 2025-12-31

Officers (4 active · 5 resigned)

TURNER, Benjamin Joseph David
secretary · appointed 2003-12-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHEPPARD, Josephine Anne
director · ~83y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TURNER, Benjamin Joseph David
director · ~45y · appointed 2005-03-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TURNER, Edward
director · ~40y · appointed 2017-06-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TURNER, David John
secretary · appointed 1993-01-25 · resigned 2003-12-22
Resigned
TURNER, Ellen Ferguson
secretary · resigned 1993-01-25
Resigned
TURNER, David John
director · ~82y · resigned 2003-12-22
Resigned
TURNER, Ellen Ferguson
director · ~109y · resigned 1996-01-13
Resigned
TURNER, Joseph Morris
director · ~106y · resigned 2012-11-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (67 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-06
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-09-22
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-09-22
withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
2025-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-01-02
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2017-06-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2017-01-10
change-sail-address-company-with-new-address
address · AD02
2016-12-21