DEBDEN COURT LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
06982331 · ltd · incorporated 2009-08-05
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01500
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 75). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (77/100)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 (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
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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 3 | 300 |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 signals 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
- 2025-12-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-19📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-08-19📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-08-19📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-08-19📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2023-12-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-09📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2021-08-09📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-08-09📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-08-09📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-08-09📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2021-03-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-01-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2009-08-05🏢Company incorporatedAs DEBDEN COURT LIMITED
- 2009-08-05➕CASTLE, Carol appointedsecretary
- 2009-08-05➕CASTLE, Carol appointeddirector
- 2009-08-05➕CASTLE, Richard appointeddirector
- 2009-08-05➕CASTLE, Thomas appointeddirector
Owner dependency
83/100
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
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
83/100
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 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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
3 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Richard Castle Individual · British · DOB 01/1980 · age 46 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/07/2016 |
Mrs Carol Castle Individual · British · DOB 02/1956 · age 70 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/07/2016 |
Mr Thomas Castle Individual · British · DOB 04/1951 · age 75 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/07/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Agriculture · CT postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAXTER FARMS LIMITED→ 02508542 · est 1990 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 35y | — | — |
| BEECOLOGY LTD→ 15630310 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BIDDENDEN ARBORICULTURE LIMITED→ 13955125 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| COURT FARM ANIMALS LIMITED→ 07129950 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| CROPS LIASE LTD LIMITED→ 16858915 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| D.W.FERGUSON LIMITED→ 00386193 · est 1944 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 82y | — | — |
| DENSTEAD STUD LTD→ 11488055 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| DERLWYN FORESTRY LIMITED→ 13164100 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| DIAMOND FARM EQUESTRIAN LTD→ 13835714 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| DION'S TRIBE LTD→ 16645559 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| DOLITTLE FARM LTD→ 14975622 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| DT FORESTRY LIMITED→ 15846537 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2009-08-05
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500
Registered office
The Lodge Debden Court Farm
Petham
Canterbury
Kent
CT4 5NN
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-19
Last: 2025-08-05
Officers (4 active · 0 resigned)
Active
CASTLE, Carol→
Activedirector · ~70y · appointed 2009-08-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CASTLE, Richard→
Activedirector · ~46y · appointed 2009-08-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CASTLE, Thomas→
Activedirector · ~75y · appointed 2009-08-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (53 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-08-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-08-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-08-19
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2024-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-09
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-08-09