DAVID DOUGLAS (FARMS) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
01255331 · ltd · incorporated 1976-04-20
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
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Turnover
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£16.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01500
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 71/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
107 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £16,097

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£16k
↑ 264% YoY
Current Assets
£42k
↑ 58% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£10k£510£11k£21k£31k£42kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£16.1k£-9.8k
Current assets£41.8k£26.5k
Net assets£16.1k£-9.8k

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
2
filings
  • 2 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-04
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  2. 2026-02-04
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  3. 2026-01-25
    MCKAY, Celia Madeleine resigned
    secretary
  4. 2026-01-25
    MCKAY, Celia Madeleine resigned
    director
  5. 2025-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-11-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-06-14
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2023-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-02-08
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2022-02-08
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2021-12-21
    MCKAY, David Melvin resigned
    director
  13. 2021-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2020-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2020-09-10
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  16. 2020-08-23
    WESTGATE, Elizabeth Anita appointed
    director
  17. 2019-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2018-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2018-06-23
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  20. 2018-06-19
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  21. 1976-04-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DAVID DOUGLAS (FARMS) LIMITED

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 50 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 med ·
2 director resignations in last 12 months
medium

Multiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.

Evidence: MCKAY, Celia Madeleine resigned 2026-01-25; MCKAY, Celia Madeleine resigned 2026-01-25

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Celia Madeleine Mckay
Individual · British · DOB 05/1943 · age 83
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr David Melvin Mckayceased 21/12/2021· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting

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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08435434 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
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15003691 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
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10894145 · est 2017 · no financials extracted
8y
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08032814 · est 2012 · no financials extracted
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15627886 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
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DOWNEY FISHING COMPANY LTD
09398530 · est 2015 · no financials extracted
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16527200 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
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11435654 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
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14833662 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
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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
Incorporated1976-04-20
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500

Registered office

Archer House Britland Estate
Northbourne Road
Eastbourne
East Sussex
BN22 8PW

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-23
Last: 2025-06-09

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

WESTGATE, Elizabeth Anita
director · ~54y · appointed 2020-08-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCKAY, Celia Madeleine
secretary · resigned 2026-01-25
Resigned
MCKAY, Celia Madeleine
director · ~83y · resigned 2026-01-25
Resigned
MCKAY, David Melvin
director · ~88y · resigned 2021-12-21
Resigned

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

Recent filings (107 total)

termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2026-02-04
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-21
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-02-08
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-02-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-26