GRANGE FARMING (BARLINGS) LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
07295022 · ltd · incorporated 2010-06-24
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 2025
Net worth
£-334.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 35110
Sector: Electricity, gas & energy
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 35140SIC 35140
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 77/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 82). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 4 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
5 live charges · 4 lenders · oldest 14.3y
15/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 14.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · 4 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: high (82/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
5 charges (5/5 with lender, 5/5 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
8 connected companies via shared directors
69
Filing history
57 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £334,476
Cash YoY
-19%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£15k
↓ 19% YoY
Net Worth
-£334k
↑ 5.1% YoY
Current Assets
£18k
↓ 13% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £208.3k | £231.8k |
| Current assets | £18.2k | £21.1k |
| Cash | £15.3k | £18.8k |
| Debtors | £3.0k | £2.3k |
| Net assets | £-334.5k | £-352.6k |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (33 events)Click to expand
- 2026-03-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2025-08-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-08📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-09-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-29📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-04-24📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2020-04-24📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2020-04-24🔓Charge satisfied #5
- 2020-04-24🔓Charge satisfied #4
- 2019-09-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-31📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2018-08-31📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2018-07-09📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2018-07-09🔓Charge satisfied #3
- 2018-07-05📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2018-07-03🔒Charge registered #5Lender: Stadium Parkgate (Holdings) Limited
- 2018-03-09🔒Charge registered #4Lender: Stadium Parkgate (Holdings) Limited
- 2016-08-18🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2016-08-17🔒Charge registered #3Lender: UK Agricultural Lending Limited
- 2016-01-14➖SPOUGE, Helen Jean resigneddirector
- 2016-01-14➖SPOUGE, Timothy James resigneddirector
- 2013-09-06🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2013-07-02🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
- 2012-03-15🔒Charge registered #1Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
- 2010-06-24🏢Company incorporatedAs GRANGE FARMING (BARLINGS) LIMITED
- 2010-06-24➕SPOUGE, Stephen William appointeddirector
- 2010-06-24➕SPOUGE, Helen Jean appointeddirector
- 2010-06-24➕SPOUGE, Timothy James appointeddirector
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.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 82 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
98/100
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 82 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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
1 med ·Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
mediumMultiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.
Shareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Stephen William Spouge Individual · British · DOB 04/1944 · age 82 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
🔒Co-director network graph
Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
See pricing →Similar companies
Active · Energy & utilities · NG postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EM SEWAGE SERVICES LIMITED→ 14708314 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| ENVA WOOD RECYCLING MANCHESTER LIMITED→ 07462747 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| ENVINT LIMITED→ 08854799 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| ENVIROSOLV LIMITED→ 04149819 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| FEARN PLANT LIMITED→ 04000057 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| FLAWBOROUGH FARMS LTD→ 15018872 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| GEDA LOGISTICS LIMITED→ 15605758 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| GK RECYCLING LIMITED→ 11678700 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| GLYN B DAVIES LTD→ 13785679 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| GRADIENT SERVICES LTD→ 16916193 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| GRANT AIRCONDITIONING & VENTILATION LIMITED→ 04704346 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| GREEN FASHION LOGISTICS LTD→ 16156067 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
8 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
Incorporated2010-06-24
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC35110 — SIC 35110
Registered office
The Tillage Barn Ollerton Road
Tuxford
Newark
NG22 0PF
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-23
Last: 2025-08-09
Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)
SPOUGE, Stephen William→
Activedirector · ~82y · appointed 2010-06-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SPOUGE, Helen Jean→
Resigneddirector · ~49y · appointed 2010-06-24 · resigned 2016-01-14
SPOUGE, Timothy James→
Resigneddirector · ~50y · appointed 2010-06-24 · resigned 2016-01-14
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
5
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:5 of 5 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Stadium Parkgate (Holdings) Stadium Parkgate (Holdings) Limited | A registered charge | 1 property | 03/07/2018 | 24/04/2020 | |
| satisfied | Stadium Parkgate (Holdings) Stadium Parkgate (Holdings) Limited | A registered charge | 1 property | 09/03/2018 | 24/04/2020 | |
| satisfied | UK Agricultural Lending UK Agricultural Lending Limited | A registered charge | 1 property | 17/08/2016 | 09/07/2018 | |
| satisfied | Barclays Barclays Bank PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 02/07/2013 | 18/08/2016 | |
| satisfied | National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank PLC | Debenture | 1 property | 15/03/2012 | 06/09/2013 |
Recent filings (57 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-03-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-06-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-09-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-09-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-13
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-07-29