E.BALL & CO.(BANKS)LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
00589867 · ltd · incorporated 1957-09-03
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£2.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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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 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 47.3y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 47.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)
84
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
108 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £2,815
Net assets shrinking
Down £609 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£3k
↓ 18% YoY
Current Assets
£12k
↑ 12% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£2k£5k£7k£9k£12kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-052024-04-05
Total assets£2.8k£3.4k
Current assets£11.7k£10.5k
Net assets£2.8k£3.4k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-26
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  2. 2026-05-01
    ➖
    SHARPLES, David resigned
    director
  3. 2025-08-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-05-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2023-09-18
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2023-08-10
    ➖
    SHARPLES, Sandra resigned
    director
  8. 2023-07-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-09-20
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2021-06-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-05-20
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2020-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-07-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-06-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-06-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  17. 2017-06-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  18. 2000-01-19
    ➖
    SHARPLES, Gladys resigned
    director
  19. 1994-09-09
    ➕
    SHARPLES, David appointed
    secretary
  20. 1994-09-09
    ➖
    SHARPLES, James resigned
    secretary
  21. 1994-09-09
    ➖
    SHARPLES, James resigned
    director
  22. 1979-03-30
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank Limited
  23. 1957-09-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As E.BALL & CO.(BANKS)LIMITED

Owner dependency

90/100
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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
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 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 69 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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
Mr John Sharples
Individual · British · DOB 05/1953 · age 73
50–75%
—50-75% shares06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1957-09-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

163a New Lane Pace
Banks
Southport
PR9 8HB
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-05
Last made up to: 2025-04-05
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-03
Last: 2026-05-20

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

SHARPLES, David→
secretary · appointed 1994-09-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHARPLES, John→
director · ~73y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SHARPLES, James→
secretary · resigned 1994-09-09
Resigned
SHARPLES, David→
director · ~61y · resigned 2026-05-01
Resigned
SHARPLES, Gladys→
director · ~101y · resigned 2000-01-19
Resigned
SHARPLES, James→
director · ~111y · resigned 1994-09-09
Resigned
SHARPLES, Sandra→
director · ~74y · resigned 2023-08-10
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank Limited
Legal mortgage1 property30/03/1979—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (108 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-27
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-05-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-04
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-05-14
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-09-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-09-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-26