GEORGE WHITTAKER AND SONS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
10682010 · ltd · incorporated 2017-03-21
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
68/100
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.

What this business does
Primary activity: Post-harvest crop activities
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 68/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. 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
17 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
68/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
55
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review 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£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (11 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-05-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-03-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As GEORGE WHITTAKER AND SONS LIMITED
  10. 2017-03-21
    WHITTAKER, Merriel appointed
    director
  11. 2017-03-21
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

100/100
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 "WHITTAKER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 9 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-04-03

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Merriel Whittaker
Individual · English · DOB 12/1963 · age 63
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting21/03/2017

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

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · WA postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
AWESOME ANIMALS LTD
13250238 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
5y
ENTOSNACK LTD
16130935 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
1y
F.B. COOPER (WOOD HEAD) LIMITED
00843560 · est 1965 · no financials extracted
61y
F.B. EVANS & SON LIMITED
08310039 · est 2012 · no financials extracted
13y
FOUNTAIN PLANTS LIMITED
06129818 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
19y
FRANK LYTHGOE LIMITED
00590553 · est 1957 · no financials extracted
68y
FRANKLAND TREE SERVICES LIMITED
04916999 · est 2003 · no financials extracted
22y
FULLY SCALED MF LIMITED
16206266 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
1y
GRASSLANDS INVESTMENTS LIMITED
02406842 · est 1989 · no financials extracted
36y
GREEN GOLIATH LTD
13868996 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
4y
GREENFIRE LIMITED
12899710 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
5y
GRNND LIMITED
12865310 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
5y
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
Incorporated2017-03-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01630 — Post-harvest crop activities

Registered office

Windrush
Tabley Road
Knutsford
WA16 0NE
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-03OVERDUE
Last: 2025-03-20

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

WHITTAKER, Merriel
director · ~63y · appointed 2017-03-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (17 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-03-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-12-19