CRAVEN GRAIN (SERVICES) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

01531093 · ltd · incorporated 1980-11-28

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 Jul 2025

Net worth

£-3.3k

book net assets

Opportunity

81/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Support activities for crop production

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

22 officers (8 active, 22 linked, 21 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

12 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

125 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

81/100Exceptional

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

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £3,320

Net assets shrinking

Down £3,378 YoY

Cash YoY

+72%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£8k

↑ 72% YoY

Net Worth

-£3k

↓ 5824% YoY

Current Assets

£9k

↓ 15% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-07-31	2024-07-31
Total assets	£-3.3k	£58
Current assets	£8.7k	£10.2k
Cash	£7.9k	£4.6k
Debtors	£754	£5.6k
Net assets	£-3.3k	£58

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (47 events)Click to expand

2026-03-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-12-05
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-05-02
➖
HALL, Anthony Richard resigned
director
2025-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-01-07
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-11-21
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-02-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-02-22
➕
READ, Claire appointed
director
2024-02-17
➖
CORBETT, Robert Anthony resigned
director
2023-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-12-07
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-03-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-02-24
➕
CAWLEY, William Robert Harold appointed
director
2021-12-14
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2021-09-16
➖
CAWLEY, John Francis, Lord resigned
director
2021-03-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-12-10
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2020-03-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-02-03
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-01-31
➕
JENNER, Richard John appointed
director
2020-01-31
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-01-31
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-02-18
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2018-12-06
➕
CHILMAN, Stephen John appointed
director
2018-12-06
➖
MIDWOOD, Roger Norris resigned
director
2014-12-04
➕
PAYNE, Dale Ashley appointed
director
2014-07-17
➖
PAYNE, Colin Geoffrey resigned
director
2008-11-27
➕
ROGERS, Jonathan Richard appointed
director
2008-11-27
➕
ROGERS, Philip Guy appointed
director
2008-08-31
➖
BURTON, Peter John resigned
secretary
2008-08-31
➖
BURTON, Peter John resigned
director
2005-01-27
➕
HALL, Anthony Richard appointed
director
2004-11-25
➖
HOWARD, Richard John resigned
director
2003-01-30
➕
MIDWOOD, Roger Norris appointed
director
2002-11-28
➖
THOMPSON, Alistair Hugh Neville resigned
director
2001-11-29
➕
PAYNE, Colin Geoffrey appointed
director
2000-11-30
➖
CALVERT, David John resigned
director
2000-11-30
➖
JAMES-MOORE, Thomas Vale resigned
director
1999-11-25
➕
CORBETT, Richard George Uvedale appointed
director
1995-11-30
➕
THOMPSON, Alistair Hugh Neville appointed
director
1995-11-30
➖
THOMPSON, Christopher Ronald resigned
director
1992-12-17
➖
CORBETT, David Uvedale resigned
director
1992-12-17
➖
HARTLEY, John Lloyd resigned
director
1992-12-17
➕
HOWARD, Richard John appointed
director
1992-12-17
➕
THOMPSON, Christopher Ronald appointed
director
1992-01-29
➕
BURTON, Peter John appointed
secretary
1980-11-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As CRAVEN GRAIN (SERVICES) LIMITED

Owner dependency

73/100

High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS

-8 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+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.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Dale Ashley Payne Individual · British · DOB 06/1977 · age 49	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/12/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · HR postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
DRILLING INVESTMENTS LTD→ 08964821 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
EDWARDS TREE SERVICES LTD→ 09038193 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
FAR HEATH FARMING LIMITED→ 13257137 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
FIELD RESOURCES LTD→ 16982590 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
FOREST FRESH MUSHROOMS LTD→ 14968968 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
FOY EGGS LTD→ 08045474 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	—	—
FREEMAN FORESTRY LTD→ 16480875 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
FRESHFIELDS FRUIT LTD→ 08443633 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	—	—
FSFP LIMITED→ 10776900 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
G & B B HOULBROOKE & SON LTD→ 07520168 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
G J LLOYD LTD→ 13178383 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
G.L. MORGAN LTD→ 06889882 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—

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

Incorporated1980-11-28

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC01610 — Support activities for crop production

Registered office

Shobdon Airfield Shobdon

Leominster

Herefordshire

HR6 9NR

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-04-30

Last made up to: 2025-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-20

Last: 2025-12-06