LINLEY FARMS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
01888174 · ltd · incorporated 1985-02-20
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
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 65/100. Strong seller-intent signal (78/100, director aged 80). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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 (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
101 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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
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 · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees200200

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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 persons-with-significant-control
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-06
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  2. 2025-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-05-31
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2017-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-07-06
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2016-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-07-09
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2015-07-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  17. 2004-02-04
    GRAHAM, Selina Lucy, The Honourable appointed
    secretary
  18. 2004-02-04
    FORESTER, Catherine, Lady, The Rt Hon appointed
    director
  19. 2004-02-04
    FORESTER, The Lady resigned
    secretary
  20. 2004-02-04
    FORESTER, George Cecil Brook, Lord resigned
    director
  21. 1985-02-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As LINLEY FARMS LIMITED

Owner dependency

100/100
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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 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.

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: 2026-06-14

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
The Honourable Alexandra Elizabeth Connell
Individual · British · DOB 05/1973 · age 53
sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016
The Rt Hon Catherine, Lady Forester
Individual · British · DOB 02/1946 · age 80
sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Lord Arthur Francis Nicholas Wills Downshireceased 06/11/2023· significant influence
  • Mr Rhoderick Martin Swireceased 23/04/2018· significant influence

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
Incorporated1985-02-20
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

The Estate Office
Willey
Broseley
Shropshire
TF12 5JN
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-14OVERDUE
Last: 2025-05-31

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

GRAHAM, Selina Lucy, The Honourable
secretary · appointed 2004-02-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORESTER, Catherine, Lady, The Rt Hon
director · ~80y · appointed 2004-02-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FORESTER, The Lady
secretary · resigned 2004-02-04
Resigned
FORESTER, George Cecil Brook, Lord
director · ~88y · resigned 2004-02-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (101 total)

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-03-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-06-13