COUNTRY FOODS (SWANAGE) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04451311 · ltd · incorporated 2002-05-30
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
£21.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 79). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Deleverage or restructure. Leverage at 100% of assets — consider sale of non-core assets or equity injection. 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, 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
6 officers (1 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
70 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £21,447
High leverage
Liabilities are 100% of total assets
Net assets shrinking
Down £9,394 YoY
Leverage
100%
Liabilities / Total assets

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£21k
↓ 30% YoY
Current Assets
£22k
↓ 31% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£6k£13k£19k£26k£32kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£22.4k£33.3k
Current assets£22.4k£32.3k
Net assets£21.4k£30.8k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-10-10
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-09-17
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2024-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-11-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2023-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-10-11
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2022-10-10
    ➖
    WOOD, Julian resigned
    director
  10. 2021-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-02-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2018-02-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2017-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2010-05-30
    ➖
    CHAMBERS ACCOUNTANCY LTD resigned
    corporate-secretary
  18. 2007-11-12
    ➕
    CHAMBERS ACCOUNTANCY LTD appointed
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2007-11-12
    ➖
    MKL SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2003-10-09
    ➕
    WOOD, Julian appointed
    director
  21. 2002-06-20
    ➕
    DIFFEY, Margaret Susan Louise appointed
    director
  22. 2002-06-20
    ➕
    MKL SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  23. 2002-05-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COUNTRY FOODS (SWANAGE) LIMITED
  24. 2002-05-30
    ➕
    VENTURE NOMINEES (1) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  25. 2002-05-30
    ➖
    VENTURE NOMINEES (1) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  26. 2002-05-30
    ➕
    VENTURE NOMINEES (2) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director
  27. 2002-05-30
    ➖
    VENTURE NOMINEES (2) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — 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 79 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 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Margaret Susan Louise Diffey
Individual · British · DOB 07/1947 · age 79
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · firm interest06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated2002-05-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47110 — Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating

Registered office

Unit 1 The A J M Centre
Prospect Business Park
Swanage
Dorset
BH19 1FE
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-25
Last: 2025-10-11

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

DIFFEY, Margaret Susan Louise→
director · ~79y · appointed 2002-06-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CHAMBERS ACCOUNTANCY LTD→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-11-12 · resigned 2010-05-30
Resigned
MKL SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2002-06-20 · resigned 2007-11-12
Resigned
VENTURE NOMINEES (1) LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2002-05-30 · resigned 2002-05-30
Resigned
WOOD, Julian→
director · ~50y · appointed 2003-10-09 · resigned 2022-10-10
Resigned
VENTURE NOMINEES (2) LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2002-05-30 · resigned 2002-05-30
Resigned

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

Recent filings (70 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-13
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-10
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-09-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-11-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-11
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-10-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-14