FRANKLAND TREE SERVICES LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
04916999 · ltd · incorporated 2003-09-30
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 2026
Net worth
£-76.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 02400
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 71). 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 (76/100)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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
48 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 · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £76,499
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£5k
Net Worth
-£76k
Current Assets
£30k
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2026-03-31 | 2025-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-60.5k | — |
| Current assets | £30.5k | — |
| Cash | £5.0k | — |
| Debtors | £25.5k | — |
| Net assets | £-76.5k | — |
| Average employees | — | 300 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-12-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-10-15📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-09-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-11-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2003-09-30🏢Company incorporatedAs FRANKLAND TREE SERVICES LIMITED
- 2003-09-30➕FRANKLAND, Phillipa Frances appointedsecretary
- 2003-09-30➕FRANKLAND, Christopher John appointeddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
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
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "FRANKLAND" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 23 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
100/100
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 71 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Christopher John Frankland Individual · British · DOB 07/1955 · age 71 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 02/09/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWESOME ANIMALS LTD→ 13250238 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| F.B. COOPER (WOOD HEAD) LIMITED→ 00843560 · est 1965 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 61y | — | — |
| F.B. EVANS & SON LIMITED→ 08310039 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| FOUNTAIN PLANTS LIMITED→ 06129818 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| FULLY SCALED MF LIMITED→ 16206266 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| GRASSLANDS INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ 02406842 · est 1989 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 36y | — | — |
| GREEN GOLIATH LTD→ 13868996 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| GREENFIRE LIMITED→ 12899710 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| GRNND LIMITED→ 12865310 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| GROOBOX FARM HOLDING LIMITED→ 12560306 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| GROOBOX LIMITED→ 12560163 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| GROW YOUR OWN NORTH WEST CIC→ 16505363 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
8 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
Incorporated2003-09-30
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC02400 — SIC 02400
Registered office
Hillside, Mill Lane
Ashley
Altrincham
Cheshire
WA15 0RD
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-12-31
Last made up to: 2026-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-13
Last: 2025-10-30
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
FRANKLAND, Phillipa Frances→
Activesecretary · appointed 2003-09-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
FRANKLAND, Christopher John→
Activedirector · ~71y · appointed 2003-09-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (48 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-05-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-16