C E COBB & SONS LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
00801316 · ltd · incorporated 1964-04-16
Investment thesis
Looks cheap but ownership + security both unclear — probable value trap.
Why interesting: Headline metrics may be attractive.
Why risky: No PSC visibility combined with multiple live charges; transacting likely slow and expensive.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£267.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01500
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 47190Other retail sale in non-specialised stores
- 56102Unlicenced restaurants and cafes
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 83-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 83). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 3 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 53.2y
30/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 53.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (69/100)Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.
Company profile
address, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
8 officers (4 active, 8 linked, 6 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
102 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
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
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £267,311
Net assets shrinking
Down £5,192 YoY
Cash YoY
-27%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£4k
↓ 27% YoY
Net Worth
£267k
↓ 1.9% YoY
Current Assets
£534k
~ YoY
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £841.7k | £1.01M |
| Current assets | £533.8k | £532.6k |
| Cash | £4.3k | £5.8k |
| Debtors | £86.2k | £80.2k |
| Net assets | £267.3k | £272.5k |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 2 officers
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
- 2026-02-19➖COBB, Charles Anthony resigneddirector
- 2026-02-19➖COBB, John Edward resigneddirector
- 2026-02-19📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2026-02-19📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2025-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-17📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2020-10-17📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2020-10-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-05📄memorandum-articlesincorporation · MA
- 2020-10-05📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2019-12-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-06-14📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2019-04-01➕COBB, Stephen Andrew appointedsecretary
- 2019-04-01➖COBB, John Edward resignedsecretary
- 2019-04-01📄appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP03
- 2019-04-01📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2011-07-29➕COBB, David Charles appointeddirector
- 2011-07-29➕COBB, Stephen Andrew appointeddirector
- 1997-09-19➖COBB, Charles Edward resigneddirector
- 1985-10-17🔒Charge registered #3Lender: Midland Bank PLC
- 1977-06-20🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Agricultural Mortgage Corp LTD
- 1973-03-26🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Midland Bank PLC
- 1964-04-16🏢Company incorporatedAs C E COBB & SONS LIMITED
Owner dependency
88/100
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
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "COBB" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 83 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
83/100
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 83 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 62 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
1 med ·2 director resignations in last 12 months
mediumMultiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.
Evidence: COBB, Charles Anthony resigned 2026-02-19; COBB, John Edward resigned 2026-02-19
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| C M STEVENS LIMITED→ 10883588 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| C.A. STRAWSON MAPLEBECK LIMITED→ 12570600 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| C.G.BURTON & SON LIMITED→ 00852987 · est 1965 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 60y | — | — |
| C.J. FARMS LIMITED→ 03181918 · est 1996 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 30y | — | — |
| C.J. HEMPSALL & SONS LIMITED→ 00360609 · est 1940 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 86y | — | — |
| C.J.NEALE LIMITED→ 00600006 · est 1958 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 68y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1964-04-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500
Registered office
Lodge Farm
Darlton
Nr Newark
NG22 0TQ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-08
Last: 2026-01-25
Officers (4 active · 4 resigned)
COBB, Stephen Andrew→
Activesecretary · appointed 2019-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
COBB, David Charles→
Activedirector · ~52y · appointed 2011-07-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COBB, Stephen Andrew→
Activedirector · ~59y · appointed 2011-07-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
COBB, John Edward→
Resignedsecretary · resigned 2019-04-01
COBB, Charles Anthony→
Resigneddirector · ~86y · resigned 2026-02-19
COBB, Charles Edward→
Resigneddirector · ~115y · resigned 1997-09-19
COBB, John Edward→
Resigneddirector · ~88y · resigned 2026-02-19
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
3
Total charges
3
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Midland Bank Midland Bank PLC | Fixed and floating charge | 1 property | 17/10/1985 | — | |
| outstanding | Agricultural Mortgage Corp Agricultural Mortgage Corp LTD | Mortgage | 1 property | 20/06/1977 | — | |
| outstanding | Midland Bank Midland Bank PLC | Mortgage | 1 property | 26/03/1973 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (102 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-19
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-19
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-23
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2020-10-17