A.W. SMITH & SONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

00530969 · ltd · incorporated 1954-03-26

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

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. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 57/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 4 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: family or management succession (50/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

14 live charges · 4 lenders · oldest 67.4y

25/100

too messy

Structure is too messy for a clean refinance right now — clean up first or expect bespoke terms.

· Oldest live charge is 67.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· 4 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
· Legal-friction score 50/100 (high).

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

14 charges (14/14 with lender, 14/14 with type)

Directors & officers

10 officers (7 active, 10 linked, 8 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

4 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

124 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Adequate — check latest filings for context.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

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
Average employees	1800	1900

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (41 events)Click to expand

2026-01-27
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-10
➕
SMITH, Edward Alan appointed
director
2025-04-07
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-04-07
🔒
Charge registered #14
Lender: Oxbury Bank PLC
2024-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-18
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-11
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2022-11-08
🔒
Charge registered #13
Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
2021-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-09
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2021-12-09
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-02-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-15
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2019-12-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-08-16
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2018-08-16
🔒
Charge registered #12
Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
2014-08-21
🔒
Charge registered #11
Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
2013-08-05
🔒
Charge registered #10
Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
2012-07-09
🔒
Charge registered #9
Lender: Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC
2005-04-06
➕
SMITH, John William James appointed
secretary
2005-04-06
➕
SMITH, Andrew Alan appointed
director
2005-04-06
➕
SMITH, John William James appointed
director
2005-04-06
➕
SMITH, Martyn Craig appointed
director
2005-04-06
➕
SMITH, Nicholas Darren appointed
director
2005-04-06
➕
SMITH, Robert Gerrard Paul appointed
director
2005-04-06
➖
SMITH, Alfred John resigned
secretary
2005-04-06
➖
SMITH, Alfred John resigned
director
2005-04-06
➖
SMITH, Stanley Henry resigned
director
1990-07-26
🔒
Charge registered #8
Lender: The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC
1990-07-26
🔒
Charge registered #7
Lender: The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC
1990-03-19
🔒
Charge registered #6
Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
1990-03-19
🔒
Charge registered #5
Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
1990-03-19
🔒
Charge registered #4
Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
1990-03-19
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
1963-10-25
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
1958-12-12
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
1954-03-26
🏢
Company incorporated
As A.W. SMITH & SONS LIMITED

Owner dependency

88/100

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

-6 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "SMITH" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

30/100

Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

SIGNALS

primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — SMITH, Edward Alan (same surname) appointed 2025-12-10. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 low

14 live charges

low

Heavily leveraged with multiple live security positions — understand the capital structure before proceeding.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Executors Of Stanley Smith Individual · British · DOB 12/1932 · age 94	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Alfred John Smithceased 20/11/2019· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · LN postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
A B GRANT (LANGRICK) LIMITED→ 09798753 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
A.C.GILBERT & SON,LIMITED→ 00128636 · est 1913 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	112y	—	—
A.I.WALGATE & SON→ 00532342 · est 1954 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	71y	—	—
AH FARMS LTD→ 11454371 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
AJR TAYLOR FARMS LIMITED→ 04689796 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
ALCHEMY AGRONOMY LTD→ 15210201 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ALDRICH AGRICULTURAL LIMITED→ 16395037 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ALFORD FARMING LIMITED→ 15591621 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
ALLIED GROWERS LIMITED→ 09356248 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
ALPACAS AT THE MEADOWS LTD→ 14841465 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
AMICUS (FM) SERVICES LTD→ 12223111 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
ANDREW JOHNSTONE LIMITED→ 01608946 · est 1982 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	44y	—	—

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

Incorporated1954-03-26

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

Home Farm

Withcall

Louth

Lincs

LN11 9RL

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-01

Last: 2025-07-18