ARABLE FARM CONTRACTORS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
09949286 · ltd · incorporated 2016-01-13
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 Jan 2026
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 85-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 85). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
26 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£1£1£1Jan 2025Jan 2026

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2026-01-312025-01-31
Total assets—£1
Net assets—£1

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
3
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (16 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2026-01-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-02-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-11-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-11-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-11-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-01-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2018-10-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-09-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-02-08
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  14. 2016-01-27
    ✏️
    change-of-name-notice
    change-of-name · CONNOT
  15. 2016-01-13
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARABLE FARM CONTRACTORS LIMITED
  16. 2016-01-13
    ➕
    HEDLEY LEWIS, Vincent appointed
    director

Owner dependency

95/100
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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 85 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 10 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100
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 85 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Vincent Richard Hedley Lewis
Individual · British · DOB 05/1941 · age 85
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · NG postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
BABY POTATO LIMITED→
14741973 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————3y——
BEECHMAST LIMITED→
02240394 · est 1988 · no financials extracted
————38y——
BIG BEAR DOGGY DAY CARE & HOME BOARDING LTD→
14815984 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————2y——
BURTTS OF DOWSBY LIMITED→
00376566 · est 1942 · no financials extracted
————83y——
C B THOMPSON LIMITED→
14423001 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————3y——
C E COBB & SONS LIMITED→
00801316 · est 1964 · no financials extracted
————62y——
C H L SHEDS LIMITED→
09228621 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
————11y——
C M STEVENS LIMITED→
10883588 · est 2017 · no financials extracted
————8y——
C.A. STRAWSON MAPLEBECK LIMITED→
12570600 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
————5y——
C.C. COUSLAND & SON LIMITED→
01411396 · est 1979 · no financials extracted
————47y——
C.G.BURTON & SON LIMITED→
00852987 · est 1965 · no financials extracted
————60y——
C.J. FARMS LIMITED→
03181918 · est 1996 · no financials extracted
————30y——
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
Incorporated2016-01-13
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

Birkholme Manor
Corby Glen
Grantham
Lincolnshire
NG33 4LF
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-10-31
Last made up to: 2026-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-05
Last: 2026-01-22

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

HEDLEY LEWIS, Vincent→
director · ~85y · appointed 2016-01-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (26 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-02-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-26
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-01-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-11-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-11-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-11-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-11-20