CHIVEL FARM LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
00876224 · ltd · incorporated 1966-04-05
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
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
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 72/100 (strong), bankability 57/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Asset purchase likely safer than share purchase given structural signals. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

4 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 42.8y

35/100
too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

  • · Oldest live charge is 42.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Legal-friction score 35/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: high (83/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (5 active, 6 linked, 5 with DOB)
87
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
12 connected companies via shared directors
81
Filing history
96 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2015-11-20
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2014-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2014-12-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-03-06
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name
    officers · AP01
  16. 2014-03-03
    SWORD, Robert Arthur Hallifax appointed
    director
  17. 2014-02-28
    SWORD, James Michael resigned
    director
  18. 1993-07-26
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC,
  19. 1989-01-10
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  20. 1984-11-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC
  21. 1984-11-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC
  22. 1983-08-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  23. 1966-04-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CHIVEL FARM LIMITED

Owner dependency

63/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
  • +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

78/100
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 83 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 60 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-04-20

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John David Sword
Individual · British · DOB 01/1943 · age 83
5075%
50-75% shares06/04/2016
Mr Robert Arthur Hallifax Sword
Individual · British · DOB 05/1952 · age 74
2550%
25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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
Incorporated1966-04-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

Chivel Farm
Heythrop
Chipping Norton
Oxon
OX7 5TR

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-20OVERDUE
Last: 2025-04-06

Officers (5 active · 1 resigned)

SWORD, Rosalind Marion
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARE, Penelope Anne
director · ~83y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWORD, John David
director · ~83y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWORD, Robert Arthur Hallifax
director · ~74y · appointed 2014-03-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWORD, Rosalind Marion
director · ~82y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWORD, James Michael
director · ~102y · resigned 2014-02-28
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

4
Total charges
3
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC,
Legal charge,1 property26/07/1993
satisfied
The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation
The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC
A registered charge1 property27/11/198410/01/1989
outstanding
The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation
The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC
Legal charge1 property27/11/1984
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property04/08/1983
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (96 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-17