BRIDGE AND IVY FARMS LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
00687758 · ltd · incorporated 1961-03-24
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
—
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
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 84-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 84). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 1.4y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Newest facility, 1.4 years old — likely still in initial term.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (78/100)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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
106 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.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 200 | 200 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-05-08📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2025-05-02🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Barclays Security Trustee Limited
- 2025-03-14📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2025-03-07🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Barclays Security Trustee Limited
- 2024-12-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-17📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2023-12-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-03📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-11-03📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-12-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-11📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2021-03-11📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2021-03-11📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2021-03-10➖HAYWARD, Guy Anthony Hylton resigneddirector
- 2020-11-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 1997-01-21➕HAYWARD, Guy Hylton appointeddirector
- 1961-03-24🏢Company incorporatedAs BRIDGE AND IVY FARMS LIMITED
Owner dependency
91/100
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.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 84 — 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 84 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 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 65 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 Guy Hayward Individual · British · DOB 07/1971 · age 55 | 50–75% | — | 50-75% shares | 10/03/2021 |
Mrs Annette Merle Haayward Individual · British · DOB 07/1942 · age 84 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 02/11/2023 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Guy Anthony Haywardceased 10/03/2021· 50-75% shares
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Agriculture · IP postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B & S FARMING LIMITED→ 10784610 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| BLACK AGRICULTURAL CONTRACTING LIMITED→ 03137276 · est 1995 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 30y | — | — |
| BOURN AGAIN LTD→ 16994574 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BOXTREE GAME SUPPLIES LIMITED→ 06065419 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| BRAD WEBB LIMITED→ 15608389 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BRECKS VINEYARD LIMITED→ 16329810 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BRETT VALE FARMING COMPANY LIMITED→ 13350572 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| BRICK KILN FARM (MELLS) LTD→ 05441138 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| BROME POULTRY LIMITED→ 10865276 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| BUCHER FARMS LIMITED→ 01193381 · est 1974 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 51y | — | — |
| BURNT WOOD LIMITED→ 11036423 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| C & D NOBLE LIMITED→ 10553600 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1961-03-24
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds
Registered office
42 Wright Lane
Kesgrave
Ipswich
IP5 2FA
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-06
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-07-15
Last: 2026-07-01
Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)
Active
Active
HAYWARD, Guy Hylton→
Activedirector · ~55y · appointed 1997-01-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HAYWARD, Guy Anthony Hylton→
Resigneddirector · ~92y · resigned 2021-03-10
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Security Trustee Limited | A registered charge | 1 property | 02/05/2025 | — | |
| outstanding | Barclays Barclays Security Trustee Limited | A registered charge | — | 07/03/2025 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (106 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-07-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-08
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-05-08
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-03-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-10-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-03
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-11-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-13