A & J LAY FARMING LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
09533977 · ltd · incorporated 2015-04-09
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£-97.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01500
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
5 officers (4 active, 5 linked, 5 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
30 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £96,999

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£97k
↓ 104% YoY
Current Assets
£1.3m
↓ 85% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£97k£1.6m£3.2m£4.9m£6.5m£8.1mApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£-97.0k£-47.6k
Current assets£1.26M£8.15M
Net assets£-97.0k£-47.6k

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
3
filings
  • • 2 officers
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
4
filings
  • • 2 officers
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-02
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  2. 2026-04-02
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2026-01-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-05-02
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  7. 2023-05-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2023-03-29
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2023-03-29
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  10. 2023-03-29
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  11. 2023-03-27
    ➕
    BUMPASS, Katherine Elizabeth appointed
    director
  12. 2023-03-27
    ➕
    HOAD, Charlotte Mollie appointed
    director
  13. 2023-03-27
    ➕
    WATSON, Jessica Jane appointed
    director
  14. 2023-02-13
    ➖
    LAY, Andrew Geoffrey resigned
    director
  15. 2022-11-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2022-09-05
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  17. 2022-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2021-02-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2019-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  20. 2018-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  21. 2015-04-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A & J LAY FARMING LIMITED
  22. 2015-04-09
    ➕
    LAY, Jane Elizabeth appointed
    director
  23. 2015-04-09
    ➕
    LAY, Andrew Geoffrey appointed
    director

Owner dependency

55/100
Moderate — manageable with handover

Some founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.

FACTORS
  • -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Jane Elizabeth Lay
Individual · British · DOB 03/1956 · age 70
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control10/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Andrew Geoffrey Layceased 13/02/2023· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control

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 →

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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
Incorporated2015-04-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500

Registered office

25 St Thomas Street
Winchester
Hampshire
SO23 9HJ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-23
Last: 2026-04-09

Officers (4 active · 1 resigned)

BUMPASS, Katherine Elizabeth→
director · ~42y · appointed 2023-03-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HOAD, Charlotte Mollie→
director · ~40y · appointed 2023-03-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LAY, Jane Elizabeth→
director · ~70y · appointed 2015-04-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WATSON, Jessica Jane→
director · ~43y · appointed 2023-03-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
LAY, Andrew Geoffrey→
director · ~73y · appointed 2015-04-09 · resigned 2023-02-13
Resigned

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

Recent filings (30 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-15
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-02
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-02
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-05-02
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-05-02
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-03-29
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-03-29
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-03-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-04