ASSINGTON FRUITS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05563908 · ltd · incorporated 2005-09-14
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
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01240
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 01250SIC 01250
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 11.4y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 11.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: low (54/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile
address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
62 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

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 (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-07-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-06-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-04-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-04-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-09-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2018-09-25
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  10. 2018-09-25
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2018-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-01-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2017-07-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2017-07-31
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2017-07-31
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  16. 2017-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-02-09
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  18. 2005-09-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASSINGTON FRUITS LIMITED
  19. 2005-09-14
    ➕
    TOWNROW, Lisa Martine appointed
    secretary
  20. 2005-09-14
    ➕
    TOWNROW, Michael John appointed
    director
  21. 2005-09-14
    ➕
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2005-09-14
    ➖
    TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2005-09-14
    ➕
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2005-09-14
    ➖
    COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

85/100
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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong 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 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Michael John Townrow
Individual · British · DOB 06/1969 · age 57
75–100%
75–100%sig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · significant influence · firm interest06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2005-09-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01240 — SIC 01240

Registered office

The Chase The Street
Assington
Sudbury
CO10 5LW
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-28
Last: 2025-09-14

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

TOWNROW, Lisa Martine→
secretary · appointed 2005-09-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TOWNROW, Michael John→
director · ~57y · appointed 2005-09-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-09-14 · resigned 2005-09-14
Resigned
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-09-14 · resigned 2005-09-14
Resigned

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 charge—09/02/2015—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (62 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-09-25