CHITTERNE FARMS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

00773215 · ltd · incorporated 1963-09-06

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 Sept 2025

Net worth

£248.0k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

01629SIC 01629

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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, 2 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

4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

94 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £247,958

Net assets shrinking

Down £88,777 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£248k

↓ 26% YoY

Current Assets

£255k

↓ 42% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-09-30	2024-09-30
Total assets	£297.3k	£362.8k
Current assets	£254.6k	£436.6k
Net assets	£248.0k	£336.7k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand

2026-06-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-06-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-06-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-07-12
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2016-06-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-03-20
➖
BABEY, Frederick Harry resigned
director
2015-07-15
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-04-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-08-13
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2014-05-24
➖
BABEY, Kathleen Winifred resigned
secretary
2014-05-24
➖
BABEY, Kathleen Winifred resigned
director
1999-04-19
➕
BABEY, Eric James appointed
director
1963-09-06
🏢
Company incorporated
As CHITTERNE FARMS LIMITED

Owner dependency

100/100

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.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 63 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

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 · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Eric James Babey Individual · British · DOB 02/1961 · age 65	75–100%	—	sig. influence75-100% shares · significant influence	09/07/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · BA postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
ACREMAN FORESTRY LTD→ 08692688 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
BOYDSIDE LTD→ 10545647 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
BUCKS FARRIERS OF SOMERSET LIMITED→ 14889535 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
C R C STARR LTD→ 03368382 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	28y	—	—
CARTLEDGE AGRI LIMITED→ 14606415 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
CASSELS FARM LIMITED→ 00715521 · est 1962 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	64y	—	—
CAVY KRAZY [DORSET] LTD→ 14148896 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
CHERRY GARDENS EQUESTRIAN LTD→ 16771033 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
CHUCKS WOOD LTD→ 15326575 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
CHURCH VIEW STUD LTD→ 15171694 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
CLARKWOOD NURSERIES LTD→ 11084169 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
CLAY'S ORCHARD LTD→ 16611842 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

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

Incorporated1963-09-06

Jurisdictionengland-wales

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

Registered office

Chitterne Farm,

Chitterne,

Nr. Warminster,

Wilts

BA12 0LQ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-06-30

Last made up to: 2025-09-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-07-23

Last: 2025-07-09

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

BABEY, Eric James→

director · ~65y · appointed 1999-04-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BABEY, Kathleen Winifred→

secretary · resigned 2014-05-24

Resigned

BABEY, Frederick Harry→

director · ~98y · resigned 2016-03-20

Resigned

BABEY, Kathleen Winifred→

director · ~98y · resigned 2014-05-24

Resigned

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