CROCKFORD BRIDGE FARMS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
01335596 · ltd · incorporated 1977-10-25
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01160
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 01190SIC 01190
  • 01290SIC 01290
  • 01300SIC 01300
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 57/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 75). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 4 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (45/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

14 live charges · 4 lenders · oldest 42.7y

25/100
too messy

Structure is too messy for a clean refinance right now — clean up first or expect bespoke terms.

  • · Oldest live charge is 42.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 4 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Legal-friction score 50/100 (high).

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, 4 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
14 charges (14/14 with lender, 14/14 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
131 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red 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£0Jun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Average employees600400

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
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (41 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-02-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2023-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-02-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2021-02-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2021-02-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2020-03-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-03-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2005-03-03
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #10
  17. 2003-04-02
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #9
  18. 2003-04-02
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #8
  19. 2003-04-02
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #6
  20. 2002-11-05
    🔒
    Charge registered #14
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  21. 2002-11-05
    🔒
    Charge registered #13
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  22. 2002-11-05
    🔒
    Charge registered #12
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  23. 2002-10-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #11
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  24. 2002-10-12
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #7
  25. 2002-10-12
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #5
  26. 2000-03-30
    ➕
    SMITH, Caroline Sarah appointed
    director
  27. 1998-02-26
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  28. 1998-02-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #10
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  29. 1998-02-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #9
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  30. 1998-02-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #8
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  31. 1993-06-12
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #4
  32. 1993-06-12
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  33. 1993-02-26
    🔒
    Charge registered #7
    Lender: The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC
  34. 1993-02-26
    🔒
    Charge registered #6
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  35. 1992-06-26
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  36. 1992-06-26
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  37. 1992-01-20
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  38. 1990-04-25
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  39. 1990-04-25
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  40. 1983-11-07
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Bank PLC
  41. 1977-10-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CROCKFORD BRIDGE FARMS LIMITED

Owner dependency

91/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 49 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 ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Paul Ronald Smith
Individual · British · DOB 12/1951 · age 75
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control06/04/2016
Mrs Caroline Sarah Smith
Individual · British · DOB 07/1957 · age 69
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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

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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
Incorporated1977-10-25
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01160 — SIC 01160

Registered office

Crockford Bridge Farmhouse Crockford Bridge Farm
New Haw Road
Addlestone
KT15 2BU
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-10
Last: 2026-02-24

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

SMITH, Caroline Sarah→
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Caroline Sarah→
director · ~69y · appointed 2000-03-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Paul Ronald→
director · ~75y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

14
Total charges
4
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:14 of 14 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property05/11/2002—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property05/11/2002—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property05/11/2002—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Debenture1 property17/10/2002—
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Mortgage debenture1 property19/02/199803/03/2005
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property19/02/199802/04/2003
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property19/02/199802/04/2003
satisfied
The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation
The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation PLC
Legal charge1 property26/02/199312/10/2002
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal mortgage1 property26/02/199302/04/2003
satisfied
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property26/06/199212/10/2002
satisfied
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property26/06/199212/06/1993
satisfied
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property25/04/199012/06/1993
satisfied
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
Debenture1 property25/04/199026/02/1998
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property07/11/198320/01/1992
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (131 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-05
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-25
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-02-24
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-02-24