COWCLOSE FARM (DARLINGTON) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

09770839 · ltd · incorporated 2015-09-10

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 Sept 2025

Net worth

£84.0k

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 01500

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 70). 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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

21 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £83,995

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£84k

↑ 12% YoY

Current Assets

£82k

↑ 3.7% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-09-30	2024-09-30
Total assets	£84.0k	£75.3k
Current assets	£81.7k	£78.8k
Net assets	£84.0k	£75.3k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (14 events)Click to expand

2026-06-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-06-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-06-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-10
🏢
Company incorporated
As COWCLOSE FARM (DARLINGTON) LIMITED
2015-09-10
➕
MILALR, Harold John appointed
director
2015-09-10
➕
MILLAR, Katharine Eva appointed
director
2015-09-10
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

78/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.
+No director turnover: Company is 11 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

71/100

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.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Katharine Eva Millar Individual · British · DOB 10/1962 · age 64	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016
Mr Harold John Millar Individual · British · DOB 02/1956 · age 70	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · DL postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
ARKLE MOOR RIDING CENTRE LTD→ 14543487 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
BAINBRIDGE FARMING LTD→ 16401914 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
BEE RESPONSIBLE LIMITED→ 11349831 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
BETHELL RACING LTD→ 16679153 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
BOLTON HALL LIVERY STABLES LIMITED→ 10525212 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
CAMPHILL DEVELOPMENT LIMITED→ 08965995 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
CRAIG GOWLAND LIMITED→ 06888208 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
CROSBY FARMING LTD→ 16958178 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
CULLENCROFT LIMITED→ 01075877 · est 1972 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	53y	—	—
D T DINSDALE & SON LIMITED→ 16866451 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
D. R. WISE LTD.→ 13249948 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
D. RICHARDSON & COMPANY LIMITED→ 02682387 · est 1992 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	34y	—	—

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

Incorporated2015-09-10

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500

Registered office

73 Duke Street

Darlington

Co Durham

DL3 7SD

England

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-06-30

Last made up to: 2025-09-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-23

Last: 2025-09-09

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MILALR, Harold John→

director · ~70y · appointed 2015-09-10

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MILLAR, Katharine Eva→

director · ~64y · appointed 2015-09-10

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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