BIRCH FARMS (HEYWOOD) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

00756823 · ltd · incorporated 1963-04-08

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 May 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 01410

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

98 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

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

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	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Average employees	2	2

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

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2026-02-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-12
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-10-11
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-06-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-14
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-11-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-11-19
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2018-05-03
➕
HOLT, Shirley Ann appointed
director
2018-05-03
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2018-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-04-10
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2017-04-10
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2017-04-04
➕
HOLT, Steven Frank appointed
secretary
2017-04-04
➖
HOLT, John Ashworth resigned
secretary
2017-01-13
➖
HOLT, Shirley Ann resigned
director
2017-01-09
➖
HOLT, John Ashworth resigned
director
2017-01-09
➕
HOLT, Shirley Ann appointed
director
1999-01-24
➖
HOLT, John Joseph resigned
director
1963-04-08
🏢
Company incorporated
As BIRCH FARMS (HEYWOOD) LIMITED

Owner dependency

81/100

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

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100

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 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 63 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Shirley Ann Holt Individual · British · DOB 01/1956 · age 70	25–50%	25–50%	board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control	03/05/2018
Mr Steven Frank Holt Individual · British · DOB 11/1961 · age 65	25–50%	25–50%	board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control	06/04/2016

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

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Active · Agriculture · OL postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
AITCH CONSERVATION LTD→ 10179075 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
ANAXION LIMITED→ 08518639 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
AQUAMARINE MAINTENANCE LTD→ 15352399 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
B.I.G JUMPER LTD→ 15868950 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
BESOM HILL FARM LIMITED→ 11722378 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
BLUE WAVE FISHERIER LTD→ 15858715 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
BOWLEY EQUESTRIAN LTD→ 16390759 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
BRENT CARTER LIMITED→ 04453837 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
BROADLEY FOLD FARM LTD→ 14500924 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
BROADMEADOW EQUESTRIAN LTD→ 11457155 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
CGFREELANCE LTD→ 14599662 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
CHESTERCRAIGS ESTATE LIMITED→ 12792588 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—

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 →

🔒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

Incorporated1963-04-08

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC01410 — SIC 01410

Registered office

Lower Whittle Farm

Birch

Heywood

Lancashire

OL10 2QE

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-16

Last: 2026-04-02

Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)

HOLT, Steven Frank→

secretary · appointed 2017-04-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HOLT, Shirley Ann→

director · ~70y · appointed 2018-05-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HOLT, Steven Frank→

director · ~65y

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HOLT, John Ashworth→

secretary · resigned 2017-04-04

Resigned

HOLT, John Ashworth→

director · ~73y · resigned 2017-01-09

Resigned

HOLT, John Joseph→

director · ~106y · resigned 1999-01-24

Resigned

HOLT, Shirley Ann→

director · ~70y · appointed 2017-01-09 · resigned 2017-01-13

Resigned

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

Recent filings (98 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-04-29

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2026-02-25

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-11-06

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-08-18

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-04-08

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-04-15

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2023-10-12

notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC01

2023-10-11

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-06-21

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2023-06-14

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-04-13

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-11-15

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-04-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-02-23

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2021-09-28