COTHERSTONE CHEESE CO. LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
01884085 · ltd · incorporated 1985-02-07
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10511
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 82-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 82). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
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, 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
5 officers (4 active, 5 linked, 4 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
89 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 100 | 100 |
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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-11-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-11-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-10📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-11-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-12-11📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-11-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2013-12-17📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 1997-12-23➕CROSS, Arthur Howard appointeddirector
- 1997-12-23➕CROSS, Gordon Benjamin appointeddirector
- 1997-10-09➖CROSS, Stanley Alwyn resigneddirector
- 1985-02-07🏢Company incorporatedAs COTHERSTONE CHEESE CO. LIMITED
Owner dependency
83/100
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
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 82 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
90/100
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 82 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 41 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
3 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Arthur Howard Cross Individual · British · DOB 11/1966 · age 60 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Joan Auriel Cross Individual · British · DOB 03/1944 · age 82 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Gordon Benjamin Cross Individual · British · DOB 01/1969 · age 57 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| COFFEE UNITED (BINGLEY) LTD→ 14846766 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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| DEMONIC SPIRITS LIMITED→ 14227162 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| DRII LIMITED→ 10810848 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| DRY BEVERAGES LIMITED→ 10810949 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| FEARNE AND ROSIE LIMITED→ 12318512 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| GELATO TUTTI LTD→ 13981059 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| GEORGE SAMUEL BREWERY LTD→ 12470128 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| GLENFIELD DISTILLERIES LTD→ 15542625 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| GWENNYS ICES STATIC LTD→ 15877006 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated1985-02-07
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC10511 — SIC 10511
Registered office
Quarry House Farm
Cotherstone
Barnard Castle
Co. Durham
DL12 9QL
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-13
Last: 2025-11-29
Officers (4 active · 1 resigned)
Active
CROSS, Arthur Howard→
Activedirector · ~60y · appointed 1997-12-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CROSS, Gordon Benjamin→
Activedirector · ~57y · appointed 1997-12-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CROSS, Stanley Alwyn→
Resigneddirector · ~94y · resigned 1997-10-09
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (89 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-05