A. J. DAVENHILL LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
05292587 · ltd · incorporated 2004-11-22
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01629
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (75/100)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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
54 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · IFRS| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 400 | 400 |
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 (22 events)Click to expand
- 2025-03-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-19📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2024-04-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-01-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-02-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-08-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-02-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-22📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-11-22📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2015-07-31📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2015-07-31📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2015-07-01➖BRAIN, Christopher resignedsecretary
- 2015-06-30➕DAVENHILL, Aysha appointedsecretary
- 2004-11-22🏢Company incorporatedAs A. J. DAVENHILL LIMITED
- 2004-11-22➕DAVENHILL, Adam John appointeddirector
- 2004-11-22➕BRAIN, Christopher appointedsecretary
- 2004-11-22➕CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2004-11-22➖CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
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 "DAVENHILL" — 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.
Succession & seller-readiness
75/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- 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
cleanNo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Aysha Larraine Davenhill Individual · British · DOB 01/1969 · age 57 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mr Adam John Davenhill Individual · British · DOB 01/1976 · age 50 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Agriculture · CW postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A & PJ WRENCH LIMITED→ 07636460 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 14y | — | — |
| A & R DODD LIMITED→ 06704886 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| A R LANCASTER LIMITED→ 04272364 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| ADL AGRICULTURAL LIMITED→ 10895048 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| ADONIS BLUE LTD→ 02657447 · est 1991 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 34y | — | — |
| AERIAL APPLICATIONS LIMITED→ 15654735 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AGILITY 4 ALL LTD→ 14415652 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| AIDLEY AGRI LTD→ 16249889 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| AKS SMALLHOLDINGS LIMITED→ 13311932 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ALAN SIMPSON FARMING LTD→ 07515614 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| ALLOSTOCK HALL EQUESTRIAN LTD→ 12981758 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| ALLOSTOCK NURSERIES LIMITED→ 05092625 · est 2004 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2004-11-22
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01629 — SIC 01629
Registered office
Knowle View Heighley Lane
Betley
Crewe
CW3 9AZ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-02
Last: 2025-08-19
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
Active
DAVENHILL, Adam John→
Activedirector · ~50y · appointed 2004-11-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BRAIN, Christopher→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2004-11-22 · resigned 2015-07-01
CHETTLEBURGHS SECRETARIAL LTD→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-11-22 · resigned 2004-11-22
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (54 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-19
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2024-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-02-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-01-28