HJB EQUINE LTD
🏛️Establishedactive
10333367 · ltd · incorporated 2016-08-17
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01430
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.
Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 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
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
75
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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-08-31 | 2024-08-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 100 | 0 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Last 90 days
4
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 officers
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
6
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
- • 2 officers
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
- 2026-05-16📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2026-04-01📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2026-03-03📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2026-02-16📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2026-02-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-09-01➕BRANCH, Harriet Jayne appointeddirector
- 2025-09-01➖BRANCH, Harriet Jayne resigneddirector
- 2025-02-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-13📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2025-02-04➖BRANCH, James Robert resigneddirector
- 2024-01-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-03-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-07📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2022-07-04➕BRANCH, Harriet Jayne appointeddirector
- 2021-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-05-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-04-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-17🏢Company incorporatedAs HJB EQUINE LTD
- 2016-08-17➕BRANCH, Paul appointeddirector
- 2016-08-17➕BRANCH, James Robert appointeddirector
Owner dependency
74/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial 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.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
16/100
No succession signalNo meaningful acquirability indicators from public data.
SIGNALS
- primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — BRANCH, Harriet Jayne (same surname) appointed 2025-09-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
Red flags
cleanNo 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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Paul Branch Individual · British · DOB 05/1962 · age 64 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 17/08/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- James Robert Branchceased 01/03/2026· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Agriculture · TD postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FORD & ETAL FARMS 1994 LIMITED→ 02968719 · est 1994 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 31y | — | — |
| H.H. ROBSON AND COMPANY→ SC034045 · est 1959 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 66y | — | — |
| HAMISH MORISON POULTRY LIMITED→ SC424823 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| HIGHFIELD FARMING LIMITED→ 03525485 · est 1998 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 28y | — | — |
| HOARDWEEL FARMING LIMITED→ 01370204 · est 1978 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 47y | — | — |
| HUNTLAW LTD→ SC612340 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| ICE EQUESTRIAN LTD→ SC670137 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| J & T F MACFARLANE LIMITED→ SC137802 · est 1992 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 34y | — | — |
| J LYON FORESTRY & GROUNDWORKS LTD→ SC761601 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| J NORMAN FORESTRY LTD→ SC699610 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| J. & J. ORR LIMITED→ SC031533 · est 1956 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 69y | — | — |
| J.J. HOMES LIMITED→ 07068190 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
6 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
Incorporated2016-08-17
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01430 — SIC 01430
Registered office
Watchlaw Farmhouse
Ford
Berwick Upon Tweed
Northumberland
TD15 2TQ
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-27
Last: 2026-02-13
Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)
BRANCH, Harriet Jayne→
Activedirector · ~25y · appointed 2025-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BRANCH, Paul→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 2016-08-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BRANCH, Harriet Jayne→
Resigneddirector · ~25y · appointed 2022-07-04 · resigned 2025-09-01
BRANCH, James Robert→
Resigneddirector · ~37y · appointed 2016-08-17 · resigned 2025-02-04
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (26 total)
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-05-16
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-04-01
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-03-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-03
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-13
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-02-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-16
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-07-07