ARMITAGE (UK) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

04365681 · ltd · incorporated 2002-02-01

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

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 02200

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

02400SIC 02400

Investor take

Pursue

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

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 23.1y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 23.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

61 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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

100

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 · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Average employees	300	300

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2025-07-30
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-05-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-05-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-10-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-11-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-02-22
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-02-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-08-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2003-04-16
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
2002-02-06
➕
ARMITAGE, Julie Elaine appointed
secretary
2002-02-06
➕
ARMITAGE, Adrian appointed
director
2002-02-06
➖
BRIGHTON SECRETARY LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-02-06
➖
BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2002-02-01
🏢
Company incorporated
As ARMITAGE (UK) LIMITED
2002-02-01
➕
BRIGHTON SECRETARY LTD appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-02-01
➕
BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LTD appointed
corporate-nominee-director

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.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "ARMITAGE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Adrian Armitage Individual · British · DOB 02/1962 · age 64	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016
Mrs Julie Elaine Armitage Individual · British · DOB 08/1963 · age 63	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.

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · WF postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
AQUA BRIDGE FARMS LTD→ 14608379 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
BARRYS POULTRY HANDLING LIMITED→ 16836576 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
BAY HORSE FARM LIMITED→ 07182493 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
BRACKENHILL SPORT HORSES LTD→ 13056287 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
CLAYTON LANE BOARDING KENNELS LTD→ 14300680 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
COURAGE TO GROW COUNSELLING THERAPY SERVICES LIMITED→ 14612560 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
DAVE PICKLES (TIMBER) LIMITED→ 05431288 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
EBRAQE UK LTD→ 13436468 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
FRED WAGSTAFF & SONS LIMITED→ 00504742 · est 1952 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	74y	—	—
GOODWIN FARMS LIMITED→ 03209325 · est 1996 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	29y	—	—
GRASSGARTH BOARDING KENNELS LIMITED→ 15509946 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
GREEN TRACKS ENTERPRISE LTD→ 06620981 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	17y	—	—

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

Incorporated2002-02-01

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC02200 — SIC 02200

Registered office

4 Laithes Drive

Wakefield

WF2 9TE

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-29

Last: 2025-06-15

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

ARMITAGE, Julie Elaine→

secretary · appointed 2002-02-06

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ARMITAGE, Adrian→

director · ~64y · appointed 2002-02-06

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRIGHTON SECRETARY LTD→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-02-01 · resigned 2002-02-06

Resigned

BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LTD→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-02-01 · resigned 2002-02-06

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC	Debenture	1 property	16/04/2003	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (61 total)

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2025-07-30

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-06-24