DIGBY BROTHERS LTD

🌳Matureactive
05098250 · ltd · incorporated 2004-04-07
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒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 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 88-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 88). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
53 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-05-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2022-01-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-04-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-11-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-02-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-04-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2016-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-04-21
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2016-04-21
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2016-01-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  16. 2012-04-07
    ➕
    DIGBY, Geoffrey William appointed
    secretary
  17. 2012-04-07
    ➖
    DIGBY, Suzanne Elizabeth resigned
    secretary
  18. 2004-04-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DIGBY BROTHERS LTD
  19. 2004-04-07
    ➕
    DIGBY, Geoffrey William appointed
    director
  20. 2004-04-07
    ➕
    DIGBY, Rosemary Ann appointed
    director
  21. 2004-04-07
    ➕
    DIGBY, Suzanne Elizabeth appointed
    secretary
  22. 2004-04-07
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2004-04-07
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "DIGBY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 88 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 88 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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
Mr Geoffrey William Digby
Individual · British · DOB 03/1967 · age 59
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2004-04-07
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999

Registered office

Town Wall House
Balkerne Hill
Colchester
Essex
CO3 3AD
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-21
Last: 2026-04-07

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

DIGBY, Geoffrey William→
secretary · appointed 2012-04-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DIGBY, Geoffrey William→
director · ~59y · appointed 2004-04-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DIGBY, Rosemary Ann→
director · ~88y · appointed 2004-04-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DIGBY, Suzanne Elizabeth→
secretary · appointed 2004-04-07 · resigned 2012-04-07
Resigned
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-04-07 · resigned 2004-04-07
Resigned

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

Recent filings (53 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-01-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-01-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-01-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-24
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-04-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-11-28