BROWN COW ORGANICS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
05515748 · ltd · incorporated 2005-07-21
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
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Turnover
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£157.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 10130
Sector: Manufacturing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 10519SIC 10519
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -47% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 12.6y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 12.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (4 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
55 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £157,289
Cash draining
Cash down 47% YoY
Cash YoY
-47%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£41k
↓ 47% YoY
Net Worth
£157k
↑ 22% YoY
Current Assets
£239k
↓ 17% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£58k£115k£173k£230k£288kMar 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£200.0k£170.0k
Current assets£239.4k£288.0k
Cash£40.9k£76.6k
Debtors£182.7k£157.0k
Net assets£157.3k£128.5k

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-10-29
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2024-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-01-11
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  7. 2022-01-11
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  8. 2022-01-11
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2022-01-01
    FREANE, Naomi appointed
    director
  10. 2021-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2013-10-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  18. 2005-07-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BROWN COW ORGANICS LIMITED
  19. 2005-07-21
    FREANE, Judith Karen appointed
    secretary
  20. 2005-07-21
    FREANE, Clive Norman appointed
    director
  21. 2005-07-21
    FREANE, Judith Karen appointed
    director

Owner dependency

83/100
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
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

40/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — FREANE, Naomi (same surname) appointed 2022-01-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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

3 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Naomi Kathleen Kuma
Individual · British · DOB 03/1995 · age 31
2550%
25-50% shares01/01/2022
Mr Clive Norman Freane
Individual · British · DOB 04/1961 · age 65
2550%
25–50%board controlsig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest01/07/2016
Mrs Judith Karen Freane
Individual · British · DOB 03/1962 · age 64
2550%
25-50% shares01/07/2016

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 →
🔒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
Incorporated2005-07-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC10130 — SIC 10130

Registered office

Perridge Farm, Pilton
Shepton Mallet
Somerset
BA4 4EW

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-25
Last: 2025-06-11

Officers (4 active · 0 resigned)

FREANE, Judith Karen
secretary · appointed 2005-07-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FREANE, Clive Norman
director · ~65y · appointed 2005-07-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FREANE, Judith Karen
director · ~64y · appointed 2005-07-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FREANE, Naomi
director · ~31y · appointed 2022-01-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property22/10/2013
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (55 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-14
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-01-11
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2022-01-11
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-30