L H DALTON (HAUGHTON) LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
00367627 · ltd · incorporated 1941-06-17
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
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£970.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 01420SIC 01420
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 85-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 85). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
3 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 45.1y
35/100
too messy
Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.
- · Oldest live charge is 45.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
- · Legal-friction score 35/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
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, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
124 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £970,747
Net assets shrinking
Down £46,298 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£971k
↓ 4.6% YoY
Current Assets
£1.3m
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £989.1k | £1.05M |
| Current assets | £1.30M | £1.31M |
| Debtors | £284.5k | £406.3k |
| Net assets | £970.7k | £1.02M |
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
3
filings
- • 2 capital
- • 1 resolution
Last 90 days
3
filings
- • 2 capital
- • 1 resolution
Last 180 days
5
filings
- • 2 capital
- • 1 resolution
- • 1 mortgage
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
- 2026-06-19📄capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-sharescapital · SH10
- 2026-06-19📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2026-06-19📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2026-01-21📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2026-01-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2026-01-19🔒Charge registered #3Lender: Barclays Security Trustee Limited
- 2025-10-30📄capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-sharescapital · SH10
- 2025-10-30📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2025-10-30📄memorandum-articlesincorporation · MA
- 2025-10-30📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2025-06-11📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2025-06-11🔒Charge registered #2Lender: The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC
- 2024-12-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-29📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2024-09-29📄memorandum-articlesincorporation · MA
- 2024-09-29📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2024-09-29📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2024-09-28📄capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-sharescapital · SH10
- 2024-01-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-02📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-02-02📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-02-01📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2006-03-04➕DALTON, James Neale appointedsecretary
- 2006-03-04➖DALTON, Emily James resignedsecretary
- 2006-03-04➖DALTON, Emily James resigneddirector
- 1991-12-10➕DALTON, Andrew Neale appointeddirector
- 1981-05-13🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Midland Bank LTD
- 1941-06-17🏢Company incorporatedAs L H DALTON (HAUGHTON) LIMITED
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "DALTON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 35 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 85 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
96/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 85 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 35 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 85 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
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Andrew Neale Dalton Individual · British · DOB 08/1969 · age 57 | 50–75% | — | 50-75% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mr James Neale Dalton Individual · British · DOB 06/1941 · age 85 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| LINLEY FARMS LIMITED→ 01888174 · est 1985 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 41y | — | — |
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
9 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
Incorporated1941-06-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds
Registered office
Sutton House Farm
Sutton Maddock
Shifnal
Shropshire
TF11 9NF
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-11
Last: 2025-10-28
Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)
DALTON, James Neale→
Activesecretary · appointed 2006-03-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
DALTON, Andrew Neale→
Activedirector · ~57y · appointed 1991-12-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DALTON, Emily James→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 2006-03-04
DALTON, Emily James→
Resigneddirector · ~118y · resigned 2006-03-04
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
3
Total charges
3
Outstanding
3
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Security Trustee Limited | A registered charge | — | 19/01/2026 | — | |
| outstanding | The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 11/06/2025 | — | |
| outstanding | Midland Bank Midland Bank LTD | Charge | 1 property | 13/05/1981 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (124 total)
capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-shares
capital · SH10
2026-06-19
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2026-06-19
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2026-06-19
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2026-01-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-20
capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-shares
capital · SH10
2025-10-30
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2025-10-30
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2025-10-30
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-01
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-06-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-24
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2024-09-29
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2024-09-29