COCKBURN FARMS LTD

💤Zombieactive
10033494 · ltd · incorporated 2016-02-29
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
£279.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Support activities for crop production
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 5 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
35 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £279,743

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£280k
↑ 94% YoY
Current Assets
£200k
↑ 68% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£56k£112k£168k£224k£280kFeb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-02-282024-02-29
Total assets£345.7k£249.7k
Current assets£200.5k£119.2k
Net assets£279.7k£144.3k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2022-12-13
    ➖
    COCKBURN, Katie Marie resigned
    director
  6. 2022-12-13
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2022-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-05-26
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2022-05-26
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2022-05-26
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2021-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-11-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-10-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2019-10-02
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  16. 2019-10-01
    ➕
    COCKBURN, Katie Marie appointed
    director
  17. 2019-06-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  18. 2019-05-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  19. 2019-04-10
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  20. 2019-03-26
    ➖
    COCKBURN, David Steven resigned
    director
  21. 2019-03-26
    ➖
    COCKBURN, Jemma Anne resigned
    director
  22. 2018-07-18
    ➖
    COCKBURN, Chris resigned
    director
  23. 2016-02-29
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COCKBURN FARMS LTD
  24. 2016-02-29
    ➕
    COCKBURN, Benjamin James appointed
    director
  25. 2016-02-29
    ➕
    COCKBURN, Chris appointed
    director
  26. 2016-02-29
    ➕
    COCKBURN, David Steven appointed
    director
  27. 2016-02-29
    ➕
    COCKBURN, Jemma Anne appointed
    director

Owner dependency

90/100
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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "COCKBURN" — strong identity link between founder and business.

Succession & seller-readiness

50/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • 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 Benjamin James Cockburn
Individual · British · DOB 04/1989 · age 37
75–100%
—75-100% shares26/03/2019

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

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09312412 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
————11y——
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09038331 · est 2014 · no financials extracted
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01193756 · est 1974 · no financials extracted
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CONTENDER SPORTING LTD→
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CROFT FARM LIVERY & EVENTS LTD→
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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
Incorporated2016-02-29
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01610 — Support activities for crop production

Registered office

Eva Lett House
1 South Crescent
Ripon
North Yorkshire
HG4 1SN
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-09
Last: 2026-03-26

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

COCKBURN, Benjamin James→
director · ~37y · appointed 2016-02-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COCKBURN, Chris→
director · ~64y · appointed 2016-02-29 · resigned 2018-07-18
Resigned
COCKBURN, David Steven→
director · ~61y · appointed 2016-02-29 · resigned 2019-03-26
Resigned
COCKBURN, Jemma Anne→
director · ~36y · appointed 2016-02-29 · resigned 2019-03-26
Resigned
COCKBURN, Katie Marie→
director · ~39y · appointed 2019-10-01 · resigned 2022-12-13
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
2026-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-29
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-28
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-12-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-22
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-05-26
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-05-26
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-30