EDWARD COOK AND SONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
08954298 · ltd · incorporated 2014-03-24
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 01130SIC 01130
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 79). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
35 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Jun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Average employees50

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-05-22
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  5. 2023-05-03
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  6. 2023-05-03
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  7. 2023-05-03
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  8. 2023-05-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2023-02-14
    ➖
    COOK, Stephen David resigned
    director
  10. 2022-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-04-05
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  12. 2022-04-05
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  13. 2022-03-29
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2022-03-21
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  15. 2022-01-31
    ➖
    COOK, Charles Geoffrey resigned
    director
  16. 2021-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2020-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2019-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2019-04-05
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  20. 2014-03-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As EDWARD COOK AND SONS LIMITED
  21. 2014-03-24
    ➕
    COOK, David Henry appointed
    director
  22. 2014-03-24
    ➕
    COOK, Joan appointed
    director
  23. 2014-03-24
    ➕
    COOK, Charles Geoffrey appointed
    director
  24. 2014-03-24
    ➕
    COOK, Stephen David appointed
    director

Owner dependency

96/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "COOK" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 years.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Joan Cook
Individual · British · DOB 12/1949 · age 77
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting13/02/2023
Mr David Henry Cook
Individual · British · DOB 05/1947 · age 79
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Stephen David Cookceased 13/02/2023· 25-50% shares

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
Incorporated2014-03-24
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

Guild Hall Farm
Gores Lane Crank
St Helens
Merseyside
WA11 8QX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-07
Last: 2026-03-24

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

COOK, David Henry→
director · ~79y · appointed 2014-03-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COOK, Joan→
director · ~77y · appointed 2014-03-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COOK, Charles Geoffrey→
director · ~74y · appointed 2014-03-24 · resigned 2022-01-31
Resigned
COOK, Stephen David→
director · ~53y · appointed 2014-03-24 · resigned 2023-02-14
Resigned

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

Recent filings (35 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-25
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2023-05-22
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2023-05-03
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-03
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-05-03
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-02
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2022-04-05
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2022-04-05