FARM & LAND SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

02583804 · ltd · incorporated 1991-02-19

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 Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 02400

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

81300Landscape service activities

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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 (73/100).

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, 2 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

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

80 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

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	2025-04-05	2024-04-05
Average employees	500	500

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

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2026-03-04
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-15
➖
SMITH, Fiona Lesley resigned
director
2025-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-08-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-02-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-01-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-02-23
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-01-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
1991-05-20
➕
SMITH, Fiona Lesley appointed
director
1991-05-11
➖
DOWNIE, Harold Leslie resigned
director
1991-02-19
🏢
Company incorporated
As FARM & LAND SERVICES LIMITED
1991-02-19
➕
DOWNIE, Alasdair Iain appointed
secretary
1991-02-19
➕
DOWNIE, Alasdair Iain appointed
director
1991-02-19
➕
DOWNIE, Harold Leslie appointed
director

Owner dependency

93/100

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 35 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 35 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 35 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

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 Alasdair Iain Downie Individual · British · DOB 07/1962 · age 64	—	—	board controlboard control · trust interest · firm interest	20/06/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · HG postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
BAILEY LIVESTOCK LIMITED→ 13983939 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
BOVIAID LIMITED→ 08052938 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	—	—
BROWN BANK (FARMERS) LIMITED→ 01380799 · est 1978 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	47y	—	—
C.R. CHAPMAN (BLOIS HALL) LIMITED→ 01331987 · est 1977 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	48y	—	—
CHELWOOD FARMS LIMITED→ 01193756 · est 1974 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	51y	—	—
CLIFFORD MOOR FARM PET HOTEL LTD→ 09002970 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
D & A LIVESTOCK LIMITED→ 08287819 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	—	—
ECCL 2020 LIMITED→ 12584118 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
EVOLUTION TREE CARE (YORKSHIRE) LTD→ 16268531 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
F A BROADWITH & SONS LIMITED→ 06185172 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	—	—
F TATE AND SONS LIMITED→ 04585389 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	—	—
FARM VIEW LIMITED→ 12228529 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—

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

Incorporated1991-02-19

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC02400 — SIC 02400

Registered office

14 Parkway

Knaresborough

North Yorkshire

HG5 9DP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-05

Last made up to: 2025-04-05

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-05

Last: 2026-02-19

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

DOWNIE, Alasdair Iain→

secretary · appointed 1991-02-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DOWNIE, Alasdair Iain→

director · ~64y · appointed 1991-02-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DOWNIE, Harold Leslie→

director · ~98y · appointed 1991-02-19 · resigned 1991-05-11

Resigned

SMITH, Fiona Lesley→

director · ~59y · appointed 1991-05-20 · resigned 2026-02-15

Resigned

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

Recent filings (80 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-03-04

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2026-03-04